The Slacker
by morbid333
Summary: With no place to go, a notorious slacker shows up on the doorstp of her high-school boyfriend, a workoholic College freshman. Rated T, may go up to M in later chapters. Squall/Rinoa Zell/Quistis Irvine/Selphie
1. Chapter 1

**The Slacker**

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VIII, all names, places and characters belong to Square Enix.  
The plot, setting, original places and original characters belong to me.

**Summary: **With no place to go, a notorious young slacker shows up with her suitcase on the doorstep of her high-school boyfriend, a workaholic college freshman.  
Squall/Rinoa, Zell Quistis, Irvine/Selphie,  
Rated T (may go up for later chapters.) Contains sexual references. May contain traces of Lemons.

**Author's notes:** For those of you reading **Angel of decadence**, this is the story I've been promising, although it may not work out as well as I'd hoped. As you may have realized, I know nothing of University life so if any of you can offer some feedback or experience (yours or someone else's) about how things work, I'd appreciate it. As it is now, I've based it something that is more like secondary school which is probably a bad thing. If any of you have a better way to go about it, let me know and I'll rewrite what I've done and re-plan the educational side of it in favor of something with a little more realism.

**The Arrival**

Sharp black brows furrowed above a pair of brown eyes as the mind behind them both struggled and failed to make head- nor-tail of the piece of paper she held in her hand.

It was all just lines and colors to her. How was _she_ supposed to know how to read a map? They never taught her anything like that in school. They didn't bother to teach her anything in school besides the things she'd never use in real life.

The wind blowing through the map in her hand wasn't helping matters either.

"Stupid Balamb wind" she complained. She looked down to see her dog whine. "At least it's not raining" she sighed.

Just then, a strong salty breeze picked up, catching the girl off-guard and tearing the map from her grasp.

She gasped until the wind caught in her throat while her outstretched hand reached for the fleeing paper as it fluttered ever further from her reach.

She quickly tried to give chase but burdened as she was with her dog and suitcase, it was soon lost to her.

"Now what am I supposed to do?" she openly lamented. This was a strange place to her. She had never been out of Deling even once in her life.

Sure, the sunny sea breeze coming in from the harbor and the pleasant white-and-blue buildings made the town a nice place to be in but all of that was dulled a little by the prospect of being lost.

As she searched around the city, she noticed the buildings becoming smaller.

Outside the nearest one, she saw someone who appeared to be her age. She tied her dog's lead to a nearby power pole and put down her case before approaching the youth.

She seemed to catch his attention and he watched her as she approached. She noted his spiky blonde hair while she crossed the road. He seemed to leaning against the door of a building.

"Um, excuse me?" the girl asked nervously.

"Huh?" the young man asked.

"Um, well… I wonder if you could help me, you see… Um, well, I'm ah…"

"What, are you lost?" the blond asked, sensing it from the girl's awkwardness.

"Ah, yeah. I am, kinda."

"So then where are you trying to go?"

"Well… I'm looking for someone, actually."

"Oh, well that _does_ make it a little more difficult," the blond laughed. "Do you know where this person lives?"

"No…"

"So then how exactly were you expecting to find them?" he criticized.

"I… I don't know," she admitted. "I… I had it marked down on a map."

"That's a start. You've got a map at least. Now let's see it."

"You can't," the girl shook her head.

"Why not, where is it?"

"I… lost it." The blond let out an exasperated sigh.

"Then I don't see how I can help you."

"Yeah, sorry," the girl apologized. "Thanks anyway" she said, turning to walk back.

"Hey, wait up!" the young man called out.

"What is it?" Rinoa asked, looking back.

"Who is it you're looking for? Maybe I know them."

"Um, well… It's… I don't suppose you happen to know a guy named Squall, do you?"

"Squall Leonheart?" The girl's eyes widened.

"You know him?"

"Yeah, he's a friend of mine. Zell Dincht," he said, introducing himself and offering his arm.

"I'm Rinoa" the girl replied, taking his hand and shaking it in a friendly fashion. "So where can I find him?"

"Next door down" he informed her, pointing out the direction.

"Thank you," she said, smiling. She hadn't known it would be _this_ easy to track him down.

She quickly went back to get her things and then hurried to the door the youth had pointed out.

Once she had knocked on the door she couldn't help but feel nervous as a sudden wave of feelings began crawling up her leg to choke her. As she waited patiently, the door opened and Rinoa licked her lips, ready to explain her situation – except – something was wrong.

"Yes?" asked the young woman at the door, a tall blonde with a pair of glasses over her blue eyes and a slightly pale complexion as though she didn't spend a lot of time out in the sun.

_What the, is this the right house? Who's she?_

"_What is it, I'm kind of busy," the young woman stated, impatiently clicking her tongue._

"_Oh, sorry," she apologized. "Is um, does Squall live here?"_

"_Yes… why, who are you?"_

"_I'm… hold on, who are you?" Rinoa asked in her confusion._

"_I asked first," the blonde asked, eyebrows furrowing in not only impatience but now also anger. Whoever this girl was, she was not courteous or polite in any way. If the girl aspired to make good first impressions with those she met, she had failed miserably in this case._

"_I'm Rinoa. Rinoa Heartily?" she added upon seeing the blonde's blank expression."_

"_I've never heard of you," the girl admitted, shaking her head._

"_I'm Squall's girlfriend." Again, she was met with that blank expression._

"_I wasn't aware he had one," she replied._

"_And who are you?"_

"_I live here with Squall."_

"_I see… and _who_ are _you_?"_

"Call me Quistis," she said. "I have a question for you."

"What is it?"

"I'm wondering what you're doing here. I'm assuming you're from Galbadia?"

"Yeah, I'm from Deling City."

"I thought so. I know that Squall went to school there but even so, he's never mentioned you."

"Yeah, well… that sounds a lot like him, actually."

"Does it? Either way, that still begs the question… why have you come all this way?" Rinoa scratched her head in slight discomfiture.

"That's why I wanted to talk with Squall. It's embarrassing to say it to anyone else."

"Don't tell me, you're pregnant" the girl coolly speculated.

"What? No, of course not!" she desperately answered.

"So then why did you come? What, are you selling something, were you kicked out, what?"

"I already told you, I'm only going to talk about it with Squall. Just let me talk to him."

"He's not here."

"Then I'll wait."

"He'll be back later today but I'm not letting you in until you tell me what you need to see him about."

"Why!?" Rinoa demanded. "Stop being so darn difficult!"

"Rinoa?"

The raven-haired girl turned around.

"Squall, there you are!" she exclaimed, running toward him and launching herself into a warm embrace at his expense. "Where were you, I've been searching _everywhere_."

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Yes, I'd like to hear that as well" Quistis chided.

"Um, well, actually… I need a place to stay," she said, gesturing towards her suitcase."

"You show up uninvited and unannounced and expect us to let you stay?" Quistis demanded incredulously.

"And my dog," the girl added with a nervous grin.

* * *

The three of them all sat around the dining table. Angelo had been tied up outside.

Dogs were not allowed inside this house, much to Rinoa's displeasure. She had tried to appeal her case before Squall but there was nothing he could do, save for offer the beloved animal a bowl of water and a few scraps of cold meat.

The table at which they all were seated around was a brown wooden circle. Rinoa knew nothing of wood and so couldn't say what it was. It was that brown 'woody' color with a shiny surface.

The girl could even see her face just by looked down at the table.

"Whoa, how long did it take you to spit-shine this thing?" she joked in an attempt to lighten the mood and lift the grey cloud that had been looming over the room. Well, not grey exactly. It was actually closer to black, like when the kid of two over-achievers brings home a bad report card.

"Spit-shine?" Quistis demanded angrily. "This is solid oak, varnished and well-cared for."

"Okay, okay," Rinoa said, raising her hands defensively as if to protect her face. "It was just a joke. Geez, don't take everything so seriously."

"I have no time for your foolishness. I was incredibly busy before you came here. You interrupted my studying."

"All work and no play makes Quisty a bad girl," Rinoa jested.

Quistis blushed slightly and looked away.

"Rinoa," Squall quietly warned, "don't push it. As it is, you're a guest here and if anyone asks you to leave, you'll have no choice to do so. It still hasn't been decided whether or not you'll be allowed to stay."

"But it's two against one, right? Majority rules. Hyne, you guys are studying politics and you don't even know that much? I swear, I could make a better student then the two of you put together."

"I'd like to see that," Quistis interjected scornfully. "What is it that you do, Rinoa? You don't even have a job, do you?"

"Do you?" Rinoa shot back. Unseen by her, Squall shook his head disappointedly and buried his face in his palm. This was heading in a dangerous direction. Soon there'd be a big fight between the two of them. Squall didn't want those two to wind up hating one another.

"No, but I'm a full time student and so is Squall. That's the difference between us. We're actually _doing_ something with our lives, unlike you!"

"But you still don't have a job. I could study if I wanted. You think you're so great because you're a student. I could do that, it's easy. It's just like being back in school."

"_You_ couldn't get accepted into Balamb Garden if you tried. While you do nothing each day, we're studying to earn qualifications. Someday, we'll both have well paying jobs and have big families living in huge, billion Gil houses while you're still struggling to pay the rent in a crappy room like this."

"Na-uh, I'll be with Squall so I won't have to worry, right Squall?" she asked, looking over.

Squall sat hunched over in his seat, staring down at his shoes as though they were more fascinating than the argument going on before him.

"Leave me out of it," he simply stated.

"Huh?" Quistis smirked.

"So that's your plan?" she asked cruelly. "You hope to find a wealthy husband to keep you? You intend to marry for money? Submit to some guy? Become his whore and keeper? Cook for him and clean up after him? Bare his children and become a housewife? How pathetic."

"Shut up!"

"Squall studies full-time as well but even _he_ has a job."

"What?" Rinoa asked, surprised.

"I have two… actually," the brunette corrected.

"Actually… I can believe that" Rinoa said after processing the thought through her mind. "With you being such a workaholic, we'd never be in debt."

"Indeed" Quistis added, seemingly conceding to the raven-haired girl. "I'm sure Squall's drive to succeed would see him through any hardship… even _with_ a hopeless leach dragging him down." Rinoa's eyes widened."

"What did you say!?" Rinoa asked.

"Rinoa… could you go?" Squall asked her.

Rinoa's eyes widened, her spirit crushed.

"But… why?" she asked.

"The two of us need to discuss this matter in private. You being here is a distraction for us. We need to look at this logically… and before I forget, we're not studying politics."

"You're going to talk about me behind my back, aren't you?" she asked.

"Most likely" Squall admitted.

"Fine" Rinoa conceded with a sigh, skulking toward the exit.

"Wait!" Squall called out to her, reading his watch. "Come back in an hour. We should have reached a sufficient solution by then."

"Alright" the girl said, continuing on her way out. _How am I supposed to kill an hour in an unfamiliar place…? Guess I'll check out the harbor._

_

* * *

_

_Sometimes I debate the reasoning behind all this in the first place _– Squall commented. It was a strange way for things to have worked out. As it was, Squall was forced to work two part-time jobs – one in the evenings and one on Sundays– as well as study full-time.

Most people picked either studying or working. Squall had to do both.

It had seemed like a good idea to start with. With his jobs, the money he got from home and both his and Quistis' student allowances from the government, they were managing to break even but Squall was starting to regret his decision.

He prided himself on being a workaholic but even so, studying by day and working in his free-time; it was exhausting. Perhaps it would have been better all along to simply take out a Larger Student Loan to pay the fee for access to Garden's Dormitory.

Squall had been feeling restless lately but with Rinoa back in his life again, perhaps things would get a little more… interesting.

* * *

_When she'd come back, she found her belongings inside – although her dog had been forced to stay tied up outside._

"_So?" she asked nervously as Squall approached her. It was a solemn occasion. It seemed as though the girl were on trial. Guilty or innocent, to be confined or be banished._

"_I don't know" Squall finally admitted after making the girl wait for what must have seemed like the longest time."_

"_What does that mean!?" she demanded._

"_You can stay for tonight at least. Then we'll have to look at our options."_

"_So… is that a yes? Can I stay?" she asked, growing more and more excited._

"_For now," he replied._

* * *

After coming home from his evening job no earlier than Eleven PM, he wasn't surprised to find that Quistis was asleep. Squall got Wednesdays off but he also worked double shifts on Thursdays and Fridays.

Being a Thursday, he'd been sharing a shift with his friend and neighbor, Zell Dincht, an energetic and rowdy Collage Freshman. The two had quickly become friends, despite their differences. Zell had been the one to introduce Squall to Quistis.

After work, Zell would take Squall out to eat or to some other such activity. Quistis always got to bed early as a general rule.

When the brunette let himself in he wasn't surprised to see all the lights off and so crept silently up to his room.

He knocked quietly on his bedroom door before entering. He wasn't sure about the new sleeping arrangements.

"Is anyone in here?" he asked in a hushed whisper. When he received no reply, he took that as a sign that he could enter. _I guess Quistis persuaded her to take the couch after all_ Squall assumed with a slight chuckle.

He turned the light on and closed the door. He quickly shed the uniform for his job at the general store – which consisted of a dark blue shirt and pair of black trousers – and checked over his things for the morning. With everything in place, he walked over toward his bed where he was met with quite the strange anomaly.

In the middle of his bed was a large round bump.

With a perplexed expression on his face, he extended his index finger and poked at the bump.

When he got no response he decided to poke it again…

– and again…

He must have looked quite strange, standing there in his underwear, poking at a strange bump under the blanket of his bed.

Suddenly, he heard a high-pitch groan, coming from the bump.

Eyes widening, he began to panic. She was waking up and Squall wasn't even sure who it was. If she woke up and caught him in his underwear; well, that could be embarrassing. He could get in quite a lot of trouble, depending on who it was.

_If this turns out to be Quistis, I'm dead_ – he panicked.

Slowly and carefully, he shifted the cover down a little and was greeted by strands of strait black hair.

Squall let out a relieved sigh and felt his heart grow lighter as though it were filled with helium.

"So this is where you are" he stated.

In response, Rinoa merely groaned and rolled over, although she didn't wake.

Squall knew that he should have taken the couch but frankly, he was exhausted after a long day.

Quistis would give him hell when she found out but so what? It wasn't so bad. He wasn't completely nude – he justified. He didn't think that Rinoa would mind so he carefully slipped under the blanket beside her and reached up for the second light-switch above the bed to turn off the ceiling-light in the centre of the room.

He made himself comfortable and almost immediately fell into a respectably deep sleep as he lay next to his angel, albeit an angel without a shred of self-discipline.

Rinoa wasn't any sort of delinquent per-say, but then again, she wasn't exactly an honor student or over-achiever, either. She was a slacker, but she was his slacker. They were together again, the mismatched duo. As he lay peacefully beside her, his sleep went undisturbed until the next morning.

* * *

**There, the first chapter. Just nine more and I can start writing Angel again. Remember what I said, if you want a more realistic University story, I'm going to need a little help in the form of information. As it is, I'm completely ignorant on the matter. I even tried researching online but came up with nothing. Also, there is a slight reference to the title of a My Dying Bride song in there. The name of the song – The Whore, the cook and the Mother. It's pretty obvious but unless you knew of the song, you wouldn't pick up on it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Slacker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VIII

**The Student**

With peaceful rest, the night never seemed to last.

With one sleeping it away the night life would never grow to be more than a fetus.

It would never conceive nor retain any memories of its own.

If things were to happen, they would remain unseen and unknown by all whom inhabit the house. How then would people realize just what is going on around them? A gap in memory would be realized just as soon as one woke up.

As the hours dragged on and morning took possession of the sky, Squall could be seen to stir in his sleep.

He rolled onto his back and felt something out of place. As he moved, there was something else there that just wasn't him. A dead weight. He didn't know what it could have been, so despite his urge to relax and catch up on a few more minutes of precious rest, he forced his sleepy eyes open and tilted his head to the side.

He felt the arm draped over him and followed the free-loading limb up to the owner sleeping contently beside him.

Squall snapped awake at the realization. Finally, he remembered how that previous night had ended. He'd come home surprised to see Rinoa already asleep in his bed. She'd had no apparent uncertainty about the situation and had simply gone ahead and curled up in what she considered her new territory – Squall's bed – the way a new pet cat would, but this was no cat. It was a human girl. There was a definite difference.

While the concept of sharing a bed with a pet could be seen as perfectly innocent and even childish, sharing with another person was in no way similar.

The previous night he'd been too courteous to wake the girl up and too tired to find somewhere else to sleep. In the end he'd settled on sharing the bed with her. It didn't seem like a big deal then but the sun seemed to shed new light on the entire situation.

Why had he decided on that course of action? Sure, nothing had actually happened but if anyone saw them, what would they think? What would Quistis think of it and more importantly, what if _he_ was to find out? What would happen then? Would she be allowed to stay? Would he be allowed to stay?

Squall was pulled out of his contemplation by the sound of someone clearing their throat.

Eyes wide with panic, Squall slowly looked around to see a rather angry looking Quistis. She wore her blonde hair up in a high ponytail with loose golden tresses coming down to frame either side of her face. She was dressed in casual, yet sensible clothing. She wore a long orange skirt over dark blue pants and an orange blouse.

As Squall watched her, she simply stood there looking at him angrily and clicking her tongue impatiently.

"I hate to interrupt," she said, not bothering to lower her voice for the intruder's sake, "but we're going to be late."

"Oh, right," Squall replied quietly so that he wouldn't wake Rinoa. "Just give me a minute and I'll be right out."

"Just don't take too long. I'm not being late just because you two were up fooling around all night."

"But we weren't!" the brunette exclaimed, extracting a minute groan of protest from the sleeping Rinoa beside him.

"I'm sorry," he apologized despite knowing that she was unlikely to hear him.

"Sure, whatever you say, Squall," Quistis said skeptically. "Just don't make me late or I'll have to leave without you."

"Whatever," Squall said, carefully sliding Rinoa's still form over so that he could get out of the bed.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Quistis asked, turning around.

"We're not going to be late" the brunette replied, looking at the clock beside the bed. "We still have time. Just let me get dressed and we'll get going."

"You're acting different now, Squall. I've seen it many times in literature but you seem to be a personification, or living hyperbole of it."

"I don't understand."

"She hasn't even been here a full day and you've already changed."

_Have I?_ – He asked himself. He didn't think there'd be any difference. Of course he knew it would be hard but he didn't want to throw Rinoa out and give her nowhere to go. On the contrary, he _wanted_ her to stay.

He looked to Rinoa, and then to Quistis.

"Whatever" he uttered at the retreating blonde.

The brunette quickly dressed in clothes similar but not identical to those he had worn the day before. His attire consisted of a white short-sleeve shirt with black formal pants. He wore an open black jacket over the shirt.

He looked back to the sleeping girl before leaving the room.

"Guess I'll see you later on," he said to her deaf ears before taking that final step away in his departure.

As he stepped out of the room he closed the door, taking note of the identical closed door next to it. That was the door to Quistis' room. On the right side of the room was the bathroom and on the left was a staircase leading down.

After stopping to use the facilities Squall walked past the large window – more like a glass wall – to the staircase.

He descended the stairs to find Quistis waiting for him in the lower portion of their home. She sat on the couch with her legs crossed.

This room was split in two. On the right was a living room complete with couch, armchairs and television. On the right was a kitchenette. Squall walked over and poured himself a drink of coffee.

Once he'd downed the drink he looked over to the blonde.

"You ready?" he asked her.

"Are you?" she replied skeptically.

"Isn't that obvious?" Squall answered, adding to the 'question game.'

"So that's all you're having?"

"If you don't stop this nonsense, we'll be late." Quistis gave a slight grin.

"Now you're acting like the Squall I know" she said, leading the way out of the house. There were two doors, one leading outside and one leading to the house next door. Quistis walked to the building's exit and opened the door, walking through and holding it open for Squall. "Should we lock it?" she asked.

"I don't know" Squall replied, placing a hand on his hip thoughtfully. _Rinoa… would it do any good to lock you in?_ "That all depends on when she should decide to get up."

"We'd better lock the door in case. It's not like she has anywhere to be."

"I guess," Squall conceded as the blonde inserted her key into the now closed door and turned it all the way around until the mechanical lock made its clicking sound.

The two made their way toward the road where they were met by an energetic and enthusiastic Zell.

"Yo, it's about time you two got here!" he called out to them by way of greeting.

"Zell, it's only seven thirty in the morning. Could you maybe keep it down? People might be trying to sleep."

"Most people should be up by now. Only lazy bums with no jobs would be asleep this late," Quistis retorted.

"And housewives and school kids," Squall added.

"Yeah, lazy bums… _and_ people that need practice in getting up early for when they get jobs."

"Housewives don't _get_ jobs."

"Housewives are usually mothers that have no choice but to stay home with their children. Only a fool would actually_ choose_ to stay at home all day when they don't have to."

"I get it, Squall. You're worried about Rinoa, aren't you?" Zell accused.

"No. I just don't want you to disturb the neighbors."

"Yeah right, you don't want to wake her up."

"I couldn't care less _what_ time she wakes up," Squall snapped back.

"Don't lie, Squall," Quistis argued. There was no teasing nature to the blonde's words. When she spoke, it was with sincerity. "You're bad at it."

"Whatever" Squall replied with an arduous sigh, this was pointless. There was no point in continuing such a fruitless argument. They were wasting time. "Shouldn't we get going?"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Quistis answered truthfully.

With the discussion over, the three of them stepped inside Zell's car; with Zell driving, Quistis in the passenger seat beside his and Squall behind him in the back. This was the way they usually travelled to and from Garden each day. Zell would always drive and Quistis would ride beside him while Squall always sat in the back, staring jadedly out at the passing scenery from the window.

Quistis and Zell always had much to talk about and sometimes Squall would listen in though he usually tuned them out. He didn't feel part of the conversation and didn't want to impose himself upon them.

It wasn't as though he segregated himself from them by any means. He just opted to give them time alone. It was obvious the two were close and he knew they'd been in Balamb together for a while, longer than he had anyway.

Zell had lived in that house all his life with his mother. Quistis had moved in beside him the previous year to begin her studies at Balamb Garden, one of the world's most prestigious Universities. Squall and Zell were both eighteen and one year Quistis' junior.

For both of them, this would be their first year at Garden, although Quistis had started her studies the previous year.

An interesting fact about that was, Quistis and Zell were planning similar career paths, unfortunately, they couldn't go together to the same classes for obvious reasons, since Quistis was one year ahead so all three of them were separated each day but then united in their own time.

* * *

Squall came out of the building feeling quite drained from his morning classes. His schedule for the day had given him time off for the next hour or so. As he wandered around the vicinity on his own, he couldn't help but wonder where those two had gotten to. The three of them had tried to schedule there classes at similar times so they'd start and finish at the same time. There were some exceptions but they were always able to have lunch together.

"Squall, over here!" a voice called out to the brunette. He looked over in time to see Zell and Quistis approach him.

He waved them over to show his acknowledgement and began walking over to meet them.

"So this is where you were?" he said. "I was looking for you. Were you here all this time?"

"No," Quistis replied. "We were looking for you. Where do you want to go for lunch?"

"Um… what's wrong with the cafeteria?" Squall asked them. It was true. That was where they usually went.

"I have a better idea," Zell informed him smugly.

"Oh?" Squall asked, placing his hand on his hip in interest.

"Yeah, it's this new café that just opened up."

"Zell found it earlier today."

"Well, I have to admit that Zell is the expert when it comes to restaurants and the like."

"It's settled then."

The three walked off-campus for over ten minutes until they arrived at what appeared to be an old western style tavern.

"This is it?" Squall asked doubtfully. He was unsure why the other two had stopped here."

"Yup, this is it" Zell said, proud of his unique find."

"I thought it was going to be a café'," Squall replied disappointedly.

"It is," Quistis assured him. "This is all just a gimmick."

"Are you sure you want to eat here though?" Squall asked the duo skeptically.

"It's pretty good here, Squall we ate here earlier. You should give it a try."

"Really? You two really want to eat at a place called 'Pussycat Play land?'" he asked, reading the large sign above the door. Despite the proprietor's tastes, Squall had to admit that he'd undoubtedly put a lot of work into the graphic sign. It was an absurdly detailed image of a cowboy standing in the middle of a desert with his lasso tightly bound around two well-built, scantily-clad nekkomimi.

Though nothing more than an advertisement, it was certainly a provoking image. The nekko girls were bound so tightly that they were forced into an awkward embrace, each pressed flush against the other, ample chests so close together that it looked painful, limbs intertwined.

From Squall's perspective, this looked more like the advertisement of a fetish club or artwork from a perverted cartoon than any kind of restaurant. It was a wonder the local feminist coven hadn't shut the place down by now, or even allowed it to open. There didn't even seem to be any signs of a protest march.

"Just give it a shot," Zell told him. "Who knows? This could become our new regular."

"Alright… but this better not turn out to be one of those gentleman's clubs."

"It's not, don't worry." Although still skeptical, Squall followed the two in.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Slacker**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Final Fantasy VIII

**Author's notes: **Let me say a little something about last chapter. I wanted the café' to have a bit of a gimmick. Then I thought, why settle for a gimmick when I can give it a fetish? It was a tossup between maids, cats, and bunnies. Since the latter is overdone, and a café with maids for waitresses has been done by Rosario + Vampire, (it's a pretty good ecchi/harem manga, look it up,) I went for cats. I guess I could have gone for foxes but since the waitresses won't be wearing tails, I think cats make for a better fit. Feel free to give me your own opinion of it.

**The First Day**

Hours later, Rinoa remained sleeping in place. She barely moved at all, save for the occasional tossing and turning in her sleep.

For the most part her sleep was a restful one. She went undisturbed by noises or even dreams.

Her mind was empty and blank, like a blackboard without chalk or the state of a school's whiteboard with a marker thief on the loose.

As the girl turned in her sleep she stretched out her arms and legs, relishing in the room of an entire bed as a pig would happily wallow in mud. Given, the bed may not have been the biggest seeing that it was merely a single size but seeing that she was no longer sharing it was like going a size up.

She wasn't to be mistaken of course. It wasn't as though she minded sharing. If she had, she wouldn't have claimed Squall's room for her own. It was the exact opposite. She _wanted_ to share with Squall. That was the whole idea of sneaking up here. Squall's one-track minded roommate hadn't suspected a thing, or if she had, she was far too busy to take action.

Squall and Rinoa had been apart for over a year. What better way to mark her territory and get reacquainted than for the two to sleep next to one another? It was the perfect plan, only… Squall wasn't here.

Rinoa opened her sleepy eyes to look around the room.

It was clearly daylight. That much at least was obvious. One telltale sign was the sun's early morning rays creeping in behind the curtain.

"Stupid sun, can't you see where you're not wanted?" She asked it childishly. "Why don't you go hide behind a cloud or something?" She spared a glance at the clock beside the bed. "Quarter to nine" she sighed. "I woke up to early."

Without as much as a second thought she collapsed onto her arm and closed her eyes once more. Honestly. Who would wake up at such an ungodly hour? She'd wait for a more suitable time to get up, thank you. She'd wait for a time more sensible and closer to her usual wake-up hour.

* * *

Rinoa opened her eyes once more, still bothered by fatigue. She looked over to the clock.

"Ten in the morning… guess I'd better get up now."

The last two hours had flown by in a flash. The girl concluded that she must've slept through them. That was the only explanation – not that she particularly cared for explanations. She didn't care how things worked, so long as they did. If they did what she wanted to then that was good enough. To hell with people that questioned the how and why for everything. Didn't they know that ignorance was bliss? Once you know how magic tricks are performed, they're not entertaining anymore.

"There's philosophy for you,"she announced to the empty room. See, I didn't need to go to any fancy institution, and I'm smart enough.

While the raven haired girl's 'why care' attitude may not have settled well with some – or all – people, it suited _her_ just fine. After all, she was a person used to sleeping at three in the morning and getting up at eleven or even noon.

Rinoa dressed in her clothes from yesterday and stared at herself in the mirror.

"My hair's a mess," she admitted with a sigh.

It was true. It was oh-so obvious that she'd just this minute gotten out of bed.

She rummaged throughout Squall's room for some kind of hairbrush or comb and after finding one – after what seemed like hours of searching – ran it through her hair – to no avail.

"I'll have to wash it," she guessed with an arduous sigh. "I'll do it tonight," she promised no one.

It had been said that Rinoa's laziness knew no bounds but quite honestly, she _wasn't _lazy. She just preferred short-cuts. That wasn't a crime, was it?

She decided to head downstairs, taking her time.

It was a slow and incredulously dull journey as the raven haired girl slowly and sleepily made her way out of the room and after a quick detour to the bathroom for evacuation, went on her slothful way down the stairs.

She kept her hand fixed to the rail as she walked as though it were a slot or groove. She walked slowly, taking one sluggish step after another.

She eventually reached the bottom and turned her lethargic, drowsy eyes to the two doors. One, she knew led to the outside. As for the other, she had no idea.

Curiosity got the best of her and she casually made her way over to that mystery door. Her hand outstretched and fingers enclosed around the handle.

She tightened her hold on the brass object and turned her hand to the right.

…

… Nothing.

The door remained stuck.

– It was locked.

_Why would they lock the door? _Rinoa wondered. Were they trying to keep her from something? Was that some kind of secret room or something?

Perhaps it was some kind of closet, but if so, why lock it?

_What could they be keeping in there? Stolen textbooks, the rotting corpse of their last houseguest?_ A strange smile came to Rinoa's lips as they pulled upward, responding to their mistress' call.

Everyone had a few skeletons in their closet. What if someone really _did _have human remains in their closet and what if that person just so happened to be here in this dingy little house – or was it an apartment? Who knew? Squall would. He was smart. She'd ask him when he got back.

_Anyway, back to the skeleton idea…_ could that be what was in here? Maybe Squall was a murderer. That kind of thing always came out of the last person you'd expect, right?

_That must be all of Squall's jobs. He goes out and kills people for money._

The girl tried to keep a straight face but even in her solitude, her mask soon cracked.

She broke into hysterical laughter. Squall, a killer – how crazy would that be?

Squall would never do anything like that – so what could be in there? Food, clothes, another house? Maybe it was bondage gear.

Rinoa began laughing again. It was a good thing that she was alone or she'd be accused of mental instability.

"That's it!" she joked to herself. "That must be where Quisty keeps her whip!"

Once the joke had worn off and her laughter began to die down Rinoa turned to the other door, the one that led outside. She walked over and turned the handle only to find that it was locked as well.

What, do they think I'm going to rob them or something," she asked out loud, insulted by the lack of trust being shown to her. "Oh Squall, don't you think any more of me than that?"

She gave a heartfelt sigh and returned to the centre of the room, the living room.

In the center of the room was a television, not exceptionally large, but neither too small. It was the usual size for one belonging in the living room of the average family. The girl walked over and turned it on, retreating into the kitchen.

Rinoa opened the breadbox and took out a slice from the store bought loaf contained within before depositing it within the appropriate slot within the toaster and pushing down the leaver.

She swiftly departed from the kitchenette and walked back in the direction of the living room.

The raven haired girl planted herself on the couch. It was a small three seat furnishing and not the most comfortable, but it was a nice seat. The cushion was firm, if not a little hard beneath her.

_Oh crap, why did I have to think about that?_ – She chided herself. _Now I can't stop feeling myself sitting. It's just like when you can't hear birds chirping outside until you listen for them and then… darn it, Rinoa. Stop thinking! Don't think anymore! _

Thanks to her wandering mind, Rinoa could no longer block out the sound of birds chirping any more than she could stop thinking about her softly curved behind pressed against the firm cushion of the couch.

_Bad Rinoa, bad. _She picked up the television's remote control to distract her wandering mind before it traveled too far from her. The last thing she wanted was to become a brain-dead zombie.

She looked from the remote in her hand, to the screen before her eyes.

_Ah… never mind – _she said to herself, conceding the argument. It was a lost cause anyway. She began flipping through the free-to-air channels available. She needed a distraction before she drove herself insane, though she found very little entertainment on the limited variety of channels on offer.

Squall didn't even have basic cable so there weren't many channels to choose from, and those that _were_ available were terribly fuzzy and unclear.

_It figures that Squall would be the one person alive who doesn't have cable_ – Rinoa sighed. "Why do you have to live in such a small, boring house, Squall?" she asked the absent brunette.

There was literally nothing to do here. There were no TV channels worth watching, there was nothing to do, the doors were locked and Angelo was outside.

…

…

……

_Oh, crap!_

"Angelo!" the girl exclaimed suddenly. "What's going to happen to you, staying out there all this time?" she asked, genuinely wondering. "Stupid Quistis," she complained. "What's with that pointless rule anyway? Angelo's a good dog, aren't you, Angelo?" she protested, stopping to gaze out the window for a time. "Wherever you are," she added, keeping positive about the fact that she couldn't actually see her dog through the glass. Deep down, she knew that Angelo was fine, she had to be. The window was dirty anyway. That explained it. That explained _everything_.

Rinoa gave an accepting nod and narrowed her eyes, her nostrils flaring slightly as they were greeted by an unwelcome and offensive odor.

_What the… oh no… _She rushed hurriedly back into the kitchenette in time to see smoke rising from the toaster."Darn it… why…" she began, stopping when she caught a glimpse of the toaster's selection dial. "Who the heck puts the dial all the way up to ten!?" she demanded. That was absurd. How could anyone be that impatient?

The raven haired girl gave a disappointed sigh and tossed the now-ruined piece of hard, blackened bread into the kitchen waste bin.

"Who in their right mind would label their garbage?" Rinoa wondered aloud. It was a fair point. Who _would_ do that? "Only Squall," she answered herself with an amused grin. "Squall, Squall, Squall… what'll you do next… what'll _I_ do next? This place is like a library. It's so quiet and dull. It's lifeless."

She began wandering the room when she came upon a book. She took it over to the couch and began flipping through it.

Unfortunately, it happened to be some kind of textbook and Rinoa didn't happen to understand at least half of the words contained within.

"Nothing but non-fiction," she complained, "how boring. They don't even have a proper coffee table material."

She placed the book down on the table and reached for the television's remote control once more.

"I know there's nothing on," she said defensively to the empty room, "but it's got to be better than nothing." She began flipping through channels but found nothing but infomercials and soap-operas. "Come on," she whined, "I'm not some old lady. Don't you have anything on for the lazy bum of today?"

Rinoa decided to leave the television on its current channel. She lay on her side on the couch and curled her legs up to her torso.

"This is better than nothing, I suppose," the girl stated. It was true. This one particular show wasn't really all that bad. It wasn't good, exactly, but it wasn't bad, either. It was watchable, at the very least. The story seemed to carry a little interest and not all the characters gave her an urge to vomit.

It wasn't bad. Rinoa gave a quick yawn as she continued to watch.

* * *

**So, what did you guys think? I know, nothing much happened, but I wanted to show some Rinoa after the last chapter. I'd promise not to do many more chapters like this but I'm not sure what else can be done until Squall and Quistis convince the raven haired slacker to get a job.**


	4. Chapter 4

**The Slacker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VIII

**The Café**

Squall followed his two friends into the supposed café.

With all honesty, Squall felt that the inside of the establishment was identical to the outside. There were no windows, save for the door, but the fluorescent bulbs hanging overhead gave good light.

There were many small, round tables built for two, scattered throughout the place, distributed evenly around the floor. There were also square tables around the edges of the café that could be pushed together and made to accommodate for larger parties.

On the left of the room was a bar for the display and purchase of food and drinks. The funny thing about it, though, was the bar stools that went along some of the way. That part of it really did make this place seem reminiscent of an old tavern, especially in appearance.

As they walked in, an electronic chime announced their presence with a loud, audible 'meow.'

_So they've combined two themes; cats and the Old West. The next question is why,_ Squall pondered to himself as the other two walked up to the bar, presumably to pick out something to eat. _Why pick those two themes? They don't even go together. Cats don't live in the Wild West. Donkeys, mules, horses, or even cows would have been a better choice than cats._

As they walked in, the young man behind the bar flashed them a smile. He had brown eyes and long dark brown hair, tied back in a ponytail. He was clad in leather, complete with trench coat and cowboy hat, all a monochromatic scheme of brown. All he was missing was the neckerchief.

_It figures,_ Squall internally commented. _He _would_ be dressed like that. I'd be amazed if his boots were missing spurs._

The young man flashed them all a smile as they entered and approached the bar.

"Come in, sit down," he said, welcoming the three quests and gesturing them to sit down in the barstools directly in front of him. "It's always nice to see a returning customer," he said, pouring his brown eyes into the blue ones of Quistis, "Especially one as beautiful as you." Quistis blushed slightly and looked away, toward the wall. "Oh, and I see you've brought a friend with you this time. That's good, thank you. There's no better advertising than word of mouth."

"Is that so?" Squall asked. He wasn't particularly sure if this was the kind of place one would _tell_ others about.

"What is it?" the man in the cowboy getup asked, detecting something about the brunet's answer. "Do you not approve of my décor?"

"It seems tailor for a particular brand of person," Squall answered.

"That it does," Irvine agreed. "Is that a problem?"

"No. However, that fact alone will reduce your clientele drastically. If you dropped the cat theme, I'm sure you'd get many more customers."

"And why is that?"

"For one, mothers wouldn't be so hesitant about bringing their children in here. For another, the more timid, weak-willed people wouldn't be ashamed to be seen entering or leaving this place. You say that word of mouth is the best advertising you can get but the way I see it, some people would be too embarrassed to even mention this place, let alone recommend it."

"Would you suggest I sell out my dreams and ordeals?" the cowboy asked, the cheerful grin remaining glued to his face the entire time. "Would you honestly advise me to give in to the demands of censorship, to rethink my entire business, just for the sake of a few measly Gil?"

"Well," Squall began. "The purpose of any business _is_ to profit, to generate capital, to create as much revenue while incurring as little expenditure as possible."

"There is more to life than money, my friend" the cowboy smugly replied.

"What do you mean by that?" Squall asked with curiosity. As far as he knew, all proprietors were interested in only profit and loss. All that mattered to a business was that which could be expressed as numbers on paper, in graphs, and in charts. To hear this young man speak differently was refreshing, and confusing.

The cowboy let out a hearty laugh at the brunet's perplexity.

"But surely you knew that," he said.

"Yes but, it's just strange, to hear that kind of thing coming from the owner of a café".

"Yeah, I guess it is. Most proprietors, no matter their business, tend to think only of how much money they can make. They don't care what they have to do to get it. I'm not like that. I'm doing this because I like it, this is what I want to do, and then there's the perk of getting to see Sefie parade around in a miniskirt all day," he added with a slight smirk.

"Who's Sefie?" Zell asked.

"You'll find out soon," the Cowboy replied.

"Why, what's going on?"

"Nothing you need to worry about, I'm just expecting something."

"A late shipment?"

"Yeah, something like that, the cowboy replied.

"Maybe you should get someone else, if your guy is unreliable."

"No, it's alright. Listen, could you guys watch the café for me? I need to go out for a while."

"Us?" Quistis asked, bemused.

"Yes, why not you?" the cowboy replied to the blonde. "It's not that hard. After all, I'm sure a face _that_ gorgeous hides an equally brilliant mind."

"Well, I'm sure we could handle it," Quistis replied.

"Excellent. It won't be long, and besides, my best Nekko will be out soon."

"We don't have all day to wait here," Squall informed him.

"Oh, I'm sure, but like I said, Sefie will take over. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to see a man about an egg." With that, he departed into the back room.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Squall asked the semi-blushing blonde beside him.

"Who knows," she replied, "but he did promise that it wouldn't take too long. It's not like it'll be that hard to watch over the place while we eat."

"I guess… what about you?" he asked, turning to Zell, "What do you think?"

"He seems like a pretty friendly guy" the blond answered.

"Well, that's _one _way of putting it," Squall said, muttering to himself more than anyone else."

"It's not like it'll hurt us any to pay the guy a favor."

"Oh, and guys," the cowboy asked, returning before them. "Could you be kind to Sefie for me?"

"Sure," Quistis answered.

"Good, because she's my best girl. You guys just pick out a table and she'll be right out to take your order."

"That sounds fair enough," the blonde replied.

"Alright, I'll be off then," he stated, opening a small door in the bar so that he could step out into the seating area, before walking briskly to the main exit."

"This guy doesn't seem to have it together," Zell criticized after they had been left alone for a while."

"There's no use saying that now," Squall replied chidingly.

"I know," Zell replied, "but still, asking customers to watch over the place because some guy doesn't show up to fill an order? That's _got_ to be bad for business, right?"

"Probably," Squall replied. "It certainly doesn't _look _professional, but superficial judgments like those could perhaps be disproven, given time. This guy clearly has a way to go and a bit to learn but even so, we can't really say anything. After all, we ourselves are still learning. If this is the man's first business then there's of course going to be risks and sacrifices involved, but that's all part of the learning process. You can't really expect any different. Humans learn by making mistakes, after all. It's just the way our minds work." He looked over at the two teens staring at him in awe. "What?" he asked.

"I never knew you could be so philosophical, Squall, "Quistis stated.

"Whatever," the brunet replied monotonously, "It's just my opinion. It's not like I'm speaking some great speech or words of wisdom or anything." Before the blonde had a chance to retort, a petite girl with short waves of thick brown hair came out of the back room and stood before them, behind the bar.

She was dressed in some unusual attire. She wore a white pair of sneakers with white knee-high socks, teasingly revealing her short but lean thighs until they were met further up by a yellow miniskirt, covering only the very tops of her legs. Above this, she wore a pale yellow tee-shirt with a nametag pinned over her right breast. The three couldn't help their eyes from being drawn to the name badge

_Meow, My name is Selphie. How may I service you, valued master?_

"That's an interesting nametag," Zell commented, after reading the brief message. The girl grinned nervously and Squall's attention was drawn to her bright green eyes, as well as the interesting hair accessory she was wearing, a pair of white cat ears with yellow centers. She also appeared to be wearing long, black, cat-like whiskers, drawn on with a make-up pencil.

"Is that all standard?" Squall asked her, referring to the Nekko gimmick.

"Yeah," the girl replied, still grinning nervously. "This is all part of my uniform."

"I thought so," Squall replied, shaking his head slightly. "This job seems like it must be quite degrading, am I right?"

"No, not really," the girl answered. "Why would you say that?"

"Mainly because of that costume," Squall replied. "Isn't it humiliating, walking around dressed like that, having people stare at you all day?"

"Humiliating, you mean the costume?" she asked, as though tossing the thought around in her head. "No, I think it looks cute." Not giving him time to argue, the girl sideways-vaulted over the bar and landed in the brunet's lap, nuzzling against him, rubbing her cheek against his. "You think so too don't you?" The girl spoke in a low, seductive purr, which soon turned into a seemingly helpless whimper. "You think I'm cute too, right? I'd be so sad if someone told me I looked stupid."

"Um, well," Squall replied awkwardly, not knowing what to say. He looked away in embarrassment.

"Just tell me it looks cute on me. Is that so hard?"

"Uhm, yes, it does."

"Oh, no, that's not good enough. I want you to actually say it. Go on, tell me I 'm cute."

"Ah, you… you look cute," Squall managed to blurt out through his embarrassment.

"I think this constitutes as adultery," Zell joked.

"Yeah," Quistis added, attempting to stifle a laugh, "but don't worry, Squall. We won't tell if you don't." The fake Nekkomimi in Squall's lap merely squealed in delight.

"I think you'd look cute like this too, maybe you should give it a try."

"Yes, I'd be interested to see that as well," Quistis agreed, unable to hold in her laughter any longer.

"Yeah, I'm sure Rinoa would agree with you" Squall added. He turned to look at the girl that was contently sitting on him. "Are you planning on getting up soon?" Squall asked, as he locked onto those large green orbs that seemed to be peering into him.

"I'm sorry," the girl apologized, getting up. "I was just kidding around, don't worry. Anyway, I'm Selphie. I'll be your Nekko for today. If there's anything you want, just let me know. Furthermore, since you guys seem to be our only customers, it looks like you have my complete and undivided attention."

"Um, Nekko?" Quistis asked with uncertainty. "What does that word mean, exactly?"

By way of response, Selphie pointed at her ears, the decorative cat ears attached to the band on her head. "It's the word we use here instead of 'waitress,'" she answered. "Now, if you guys would pick out a couple of tables, I'll be happy to take your order."

"Oh, um, we'll take those two, over there," Zell said, pointing off to the side.

"Really?" Selphie asked, scratching her head. "If you all wanted to sit together, I could simply push two of the square tables together. It's no trouble… it's my job, actually," she added as an afterthought, "but you know what I mean, right?" Zell looked over at Squall, who shrugged his shoulders by way of response.

"Nah, it's okay."

"Alright, if you insist," the Nekko replied, walking with her three customers to where they sat themselves around two of the small, round, intimate tables." "So what do you guys want?" she asked pleasantly, withdrawing an electronic notepad.

"Well, what have you got?" Zell replied.

"Damn it," Selphie cursed, "I _told_ Irvy we should have printed up menus."

"Well, what would you recommend?" Quistis asked.

"Oh, Oh, cheesy bacon, cheesy bacon!" Selphie replied, nearly bouncing on her heels like an excited child.

"Okay, that sounds good. I'll have that," Zell said instantly.

"Me too," Quistis agreed, "Uh, what is it?"

"It's a bread roll."

"Okay, strange name," Zell commented.

"You'll love it. We bake it here ourselves. We bake ham, cheese and bacon right into the dough. You've gotta try it."

"Alright, we'll each have one."

"Okay, and you?" she asked Squall.

"I'll have the same."

"Alright, that's easy. What about to drink?"

"Small coffee," Squall replied.

"Well, that narrows it down."

"Black, no milk, no sugar."

"You still didn't…"

"It doesn't matter. Just make whatever," the brunet replied curtly and without patience.

"Okay, and you guys?" she asked, turning back to Quistis and Zell."

"We're fine without a drink" they replied.

The Nekko then hurried to the back to fill the order. They didn't have to wait long and she soon returned, carrying the smell of melted cheddar cheese and freshly baked bread.

In short, it was one of the best bread rolls Squall had ever had, and the company wasn't bad either.


	5. Chapter 5

**The Slacker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VIII

**Author's notes: **What's new with me, I woke up with a cold on monday. It's been getting gradually worse, as they often do, but I think it's reached it's peak. Now I just have to deal with the annoyances called symptoms (incessant coughing, etc.) Well, on a lighter note, Happy Easter. Over here, I am uploading this at 10AM on the morning of Good Friday, for anyone that cares.

**The Student's Lunch**

Quistis and Zell sat together at one of the small round tables, still enjoying their meal, which merely consisted of a single long bread roll.

Squall also sat in the café, also enjoying an identical meal, sitting in an identical seat at an identical table not far off his friends' location. Across from him sat the waitress, Selphie. She had her elbows resting on the table with her chin in her palm, gazing at him intently with her large green eyes, watching him as he ate.

Squall looked up from his food and caught the girl's wide eyes looking at him. Feeling slightly embarrassed, he stopped eating and put down his bread.

"Ah, what is it?" he asked, somewhat awkwardly.

"Nothing," she replied simply."I was just wondering how you liked it… the food, I mean."

"Fishing for compliments?" Squall asked, suspecting as much from her.

"Maybe," the girl teased lightheartedly.

"You know you don't have to sit here, right?"

"You mean you don't want me to?" The girl asked him.

"It's not like I have a problem with it," Squall assured her.

"Then neither do I. Remember, I'm here to serve you."

"Does that mean you sit with all of your customers?"

"Maybe some of them, if they're alone, and provided there aren't any other customers that will miss out on my attention."

"Please don't tell me this is some kind of hostess bar," Squall said, eyeing the place suspiciously.

"Not quite," Selphie replied with a slight chuckle.

"So then, what does your job entail, exactly?"

"Aside from the costume, it's essentially the same as any other waitress job, but with the added bonus of dressing up and looking cute."

"I see… like a normal waitress, you say?"

"Yeah, exactly."

"So do other waitresses come over and dine with their customers in more generic places?"

"No, but we don't _have _to do this."

"Don't you?" Squall asked, furrowing his eyebrows slightly in confusion.

"No, but Irvy encourages us to do so if we and they want to."

"Irvy?"

"Yeah. Irvy… I ah, mean, Irvine. He's the guy who runs this place."

"You mean the guy in the cowboy suit?"

"Yeah. That's our hook."

"So the girls all dress like cats, and the guys; like they're from a western."

"Yeah… so, um, do you think I could ask you something?"

"What, you want some of my food?" Squall asked, arching an eyebrow."

"Well, if you're offering." Squall sighed and broke the end piece off his bread, passing it over to her.

"Hey, check out those two," Zell said, motioning to Squall and the waitress."

"Aw, how cute" Quistis jested. "Who's going to break the sad news to Rinoa?"

The two scoffed over this, while back at the other table, Selphie nervously picked a piece of bacon out of the bread she had been generously given.

"What is it now?" Squall asked, sensing something.

"Well, I know this is generous of you, but it's not really what I wanted to ask you," she said, placing the bacon in her mouth.

"Then what was it that you wanted?"

"I wanted to ask something… about Irvine."

"What about him?" Squall asked quizzically. "I only just met the guy. It's not as though I know him personally."

"I know but… how did he react to your friend over there?"

"He seemed pretty nice, why?"

"The girl, I mean. Was he… did he try flirting with her or anything?"

_Oh,_ Squall realized. _So that's what she wanted. _"He wasn't any worse than you," he assured her.

"Well, I try," the Nekko replied with a proud grin permeating her features, making them stand out. The smile only made her seem… cuter, for lack of a better word. Squall was sure that this girl could drive just about any guy crazy. Should she decide to turn malevolent, she'd probably be able to twirl any lustful sperm bank tightly around her little finger, but if that were the case, then why did she seem so nervous just now?

"Is… anything wrong?" Squall asked her.

"No, it's just that… Irvy isn't just my boss. He's also my boyfriend."

"You work for your partner?" Squall replied. "Isn't that kind of submissive of you?"

"No, it's fine, really. It's not like he takes advantage of his position or anything… well, not any more than I like him to at least," she added with a sheepish grin. "It's just that he always puts on this act whenever a pretty girl passes by, trying to act all charming, as if to say 'sure, that's my girl but you can be too.' It gets frustrating sometimes."

"Maybe it's not an act. Maybe that really is the way he thinks. I've met slime balls like that in the past."

"No, it's just an act," Selphie argued, sounding just a little too convincing for his own good. "He cares for me, I know he does." Squall gave a sigh.

"You know, I'm really not the best person to talk to over this." The girl suddenly looked worried. "Don't take it the wrong way. I'm willing to listen and I'll say what I can but I never know what to do about other people's problems."

"Sometimes you don't have to do or say anything," Selphie told him. "Sometimes it's enough that you listen."

"Whatever," Squall replied skeptically. "I don't see what good simply listening would do for anyone."

"You'd be surprised."

"Is that so," the brunet asked, to which the Nekko nodded earnestly.

All in all, it was a pleasant meal. Squall ate and his bread and drank his coffee, pleading eyes of deep, bright green forcing him to share. Not only had he been fed, he had conversed. He had socialized, and when he was done, he had promised to come back again soon.

Apparently, waitresses at that place were paid only minimum wage but made up for it with tips. As such, Selphie was entitled to Squall's money. Tips were valued at ten percent of a customer's total bill so after paying, they left, wishing the establishment good business.

"Not bad, was it Squall," Zell asked.

"No, I wouldn't be opposed to going back there some time."

"Yeah, I'm sure." Squall stopped walking and sent a halfhearted glare in the blond's direction.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, just an observation," Zell explained defensively.

"An observation of what, exactly," Squall wondered.

"You seemed to be enjoying yourself." Squall shrugged.

"It wasn't bad.

"Good service," Zell added.

"Of course," Squall had to justify. "We were the only ones there."

"Yeah, she was right," Quistis said, jumping into the conversation. "She said we were her only customers so she'd give us her undivided attention, and she did give it to us… or more specifically, you."

"Whatever," Squall replied dismissively.

"It's true, Squall," Quistis assured him. "Didn't you notice the way she was staring at you so intently? She likes you."

"I doubt it," Squall replied. "Besides, I'm taken, and so is she."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, she's dating the manager."

"I see…" Quistis replied.

"What?"

"That could complicate things."

"There's nothing to complicate!" Squall snapped. "Hynedamnit, I'm with Rinoa. That girl is with that Irvine guy. Everyone's happy, get it!?" Quistis shared a quick glance with Zell before the pair both broke into hysterical laughter. "What's so funny?" Squall asked.

"We were just joking, don't worry. We know you want to stay with Rinoa," Quistis assured him, attempting to calm him somewhat.

"Yeah man, it was just a little joke. Don't take it seriously."

"Whatever," Squall replied, quickening his pace in order to get to where he was going that much faster.

* * *

Squall stood with his arms crossed as he waited for the next bus. Balamb Garden was the last stop on the Shuttle Bus service; a bus route that traveled all over the town of Balamb. It went from Garden, through the streets heading past the Hotel, then to the harbor, and then it turned around and headed in the other direction, all the way up to the train station before returning to Garden.

Squall looked up as he noticed the shuttle coming. He waited for it to stop and then was the first passenger to get on. He silently paid for his ticket and headed for a seat in the middle of the midget bus.

They were called shuttles and there were many of them, so many, in fact that one was able to come past every ten minutes or so. It was essentially a miniature scale of the same service they had running in Deling. Of course, while Deling's shuttle buses ran twenty four hours a day, Balamb's version closed down at eight o'clock at night, and started up again at five in the morning.

The brunet wondered whether Rinoa had been to the harbor yet, or the beach. He supposed he could take her, if she wanted to go. It would be a good chance for him to relax and unwind, as well as for the two of them to get reacquainted and catch up.

He gazed lazily out the window and reached for the buzzer beside his seat as his street came into view.

The shuttle bus system was one of convenience and practicality. Shuttles would stop to pick up passengers at pre-determined stops, akin to a train or bus, but would also stop to drop people off anywhere along its route, meaning passengers had to be careful and push the buzzer at just the right time to let the driver know where to stop.

There was also one other differing feature that set shuttles apart from other types of public transportation. Rather than buying a ticket based on the duration of the journey, passengers instead paid a single fixed fee. Shuttle rides were Thirty Gil per person, regardless of age or distance.

Squall stepped off the shuttle and quickly made his way across the road, jogging over to his door. He quickly whipped out his key and jammed it in the door, turning it and unlocking the building.

The brunet withdrew his key and stepped inside, remaining careful and ensuring that he did so quietly so as to not cause noise and disturb Rinoa from whatever it was she may have been doing.

This act was one that went unnoticed, however. Rinoa, lying on the couch, was in a position to see him come in, and when he did, she couldn't help her lips from pulling upward into a heartfelt grin. He was finally home.

"Squall," she called out to him.

"Ah, hi," the young man in question replied, walking over to the couch on which Rinoa lay. "You're not supposed to put your feet up on the furniture. You'd better hope Quistis doesn't see you. I don't want some kind of fight breaking out between you two."

"Oh, that's so sweet," Rinoa replied tauntingly, placing her feet on the ground and sitting up to talk to him. "Are you really that worried about me?"

"No, I just don't want to be the one who has to clean up all the mess afterwards."

"Oh," Rinoa replied, feeling slightly disillusioned. It shone on her features. Even Squall was able to notice, although he did not know what to say about it. "Where's Quistis, anyway?"

"She and Zell are still at Garden. I come home a few hours earlier than they do on Fridays."

"So we're alone?"

"Yeah, I just said that," Squall explained, although he didn't sound annoyed at all.

"In that case, could we do something, y'know, together?"

"I'm sorry."

"Oh no, the dreaded apology in advance," the girl said knowingly, "what's wrong?"

"I can't, I just don't have the time."

"What do you mean? Didn't you just say that you come home early on Fridays?"

"And Thursdays… but I have to work. I really just came home to change into my uniform."

"Alright," Rinoa grudgingly accepted. "What about tomorrow?"

"I have a class in the morning."

"How about after that?"

"I have my Saturday job."

"Oh Hyne," Rinoa commented. "Our time apart has made you more of a stiff than ever."

"I'm free on Sunday. We could go to the beach or something, if you wanted." Rinoa gave an appreciative smile.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I go there sometimes to unwind. It'd be an added bonus if you were there with me."

"Okay… oh, and one more thing. Do you know where Angelo is? I couldn't see her through the window."

"Zell's mother is taking care of her for us. She lives next door. If you wait for me to get changed, I'll take you over and introduce you to her." With an approving nod from Rinoa, the brunet hurried up the stairs to his room.

* * *

**Alright, this should have been up sooner but I took a day off writing because I couldn't stay focused and I was getting stomach pains, which probably contributed to that.**


	6. Chapter 6

**The Slacker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VIII

**Author's notes: **I hope I didn't disturb too many of you in the last couple of chapters. Let's just call it my tribute to the Selphie/Squall pairing and leave it at that.

**The Walk**

Rinoa walked side by side with Squall as he took her to the small house containing her dog. Since they were only going next door, literally one house over, the journey was an expectedly short and uneventful one, but it was pleasant. It had been a long time since Rinoa had last seen Squall. She was happy to be doing _anything_ with him, no matter what it may have been.

When the pair of them had reached Zell's doorstep, Squall rapped on the green wooden door three times with the back of his hand.

They only had to wait a short while before the sounds of movement could be heard from within and the door opened up to reveal a woman standing before them. She appeared to be in her late thirties or early forties and greeted them with a somewhat blank expression, until it appeared that realization kicked in, because her face was soon lit with a smile.

"You must be Zell's friends," she greeted.

"Yes, we live next door," Squall replied.

"Then you must be Squall."

"Yes," he replied.

"Then… are you Quistis?"

"No, my name is Rinoa," the Raven haired girl corrected.

"Oh, then I guess you must be here about your dog."

"Yes," Rinoa replied with a relieved smile.

"Then please, come in," the woman invited, standing aside and gesturing for them to follow her through the door into her humble abode. They thanked her and walked into her home, waiting for her as she closed the door behind them.

Once she'd fastened the door, she walked in front and gestured for Squall and Rinoa to follow as she took the lead, showing them around her home.

"As you can see," she said, "I've been keeping Angelo in here with me.

Rinoa looked over and noted her surroundings. She was standing in what appeared to be an open-plan room. There was no hallway to speak of, but there was an archway leading to another room and a staircase leading somewhere else, probably the bedrooms, if this layout was anything like Squall's one.

She also noted a small kitchenette in the corner of the room. It was nothing spacious but it had room enough for the basics; a small bench, a sink for washing up, an oven with a stove atop, and a refrigerator.

"I'll take you to Angelo," the woman explained to the pair of teens, leading them toward the archway, where there was situated in the center of the room, a round dining table, a little larger than the one in Squall's residence but neither as fancy, nor as shiny. Angelo, who happened to be tied to one of the table's legs, began wagging her tail instantly at the sight of whom it was that had come to see her.

"Hi, girl," Rinoa greeted in a pleasant manner, walking over to her beloved pet and crouching down.

"So, Rinoa. I'll be happy to keep your dog here for you for as long as you need, but in return, you must come and see her every day. I can feed and shelter her for you but I don't have the time to take her for walks." She looked over to Rinoa, who was preoccupied with Angelo's affection, and smiled. "Does that sound reasonable to you?"

"Ah, "Rinoa asked, "Sorry, what?" The older woman merely laughed.

"Angelo can stay here, but you have to promise to stop by and at least walk her every day," Squall explained.

"Ah… you mean I have to walk Angelo, right?"

"I would have thought that obvious… yes," he replied to Rinoa's blank expression.

"Oh, good. You need to explain yourself sometimes. I can't read minds, you know… but what if I could?"

"Do you agree," Squall hurriedly asked the spacey girl, cutting her off before she had the chance to leave the material plain on one of her mind trips.

"Yes, I can agree to that… as long as you promise not to lock me inside that house all day anymore." Rinoa looked over to the older woman. "Would you believe this guy doesn't even have basic cable? I had to watch Soap Operas all day!"

"Oh, I only wish I had the time for that kind of thing," the woman replied longingly. Suddenly, Rinoa felt like a spoiled child who had asked for too much. Why? She didn't know.

"Ah, well, thanks um… Mrs. Dincht"

"That's alright, dear. Are you going to take her for a walk now?"

"Uh, yeah. I'll be back a little later," Rinoa answered. She looked over to Squall. "Are you coming with me?"

"I'll walk you as far as the General Store. I'm working a double shift there so I won't see you until later tonight. Is that okay?"

"Alright," the girl nodded. "I have Angelo. I'm sure I can find _something_ to occupy myself."

"Squall, in turn nodded his agreement and turned toward Mrs. Dincht.

"Thank you for helping us."

"That's alright, I'm happy to," the woman pleasantly replied.

Squall walked over to the door and opened it, holding it and waiting for Rinoa.

The Raven haired girl untied Angelo's lead from the table and led her outside, where she walked side by side with Squall in the direction of the general store, which was situated near the train station.

"So um, how far is it," Rinoa asked after they had been walking for a short while.

"How far is what?"

"The store, where you have to go," Rinoa explained, a little impatiently.

"It's about a ten minute walk. You should have passed it on your way here yesterday."

"Oh, yeah, I probably did," Rinoa thought back, "but I kind of lost track of time, you see," she added sheepishly, "I kind of got lost."

"Really," Squall's expression was incredulous, "Balamb isn't _that _big. I can't really see how you'd get lost here."

"Hey, it was my first time here, okay," Rinoa replied, somehow coming off as offensive and defensive both at the same time.

"You should've brought a map."

"I did… but I, er, lost it." Squall allowed himself the liberty of an amused grin at Rinoa's expense.

"Why am I not surprised, he asked."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"…We'll continue this conversation another time."

"Hey, you're not getting off _that_ easy!"

"Sorry, I don't want to be late," Squall excused himself, separating himself from her and entering the store. Rinoa wasn't even aware that they had arrived.

_I guess that shows how time flies,_ she mused, turning around to walk in the other direction. "That way's a dead end. There's just a train station there. I guess we'd better head for the Harbor," she explained to her dog.

With one final fleeting glance toward the store where Squall worked, Rinoa began to move forward, in the direction of the Harbor. She had gone there before, the last time she needed to kill time. It was as if Balamb's waterfront housed Rinoa's own personal time pod.

The walk was a little far but it didn't seem to take very long. With her mind occupied, her legs undertook the journey like machines, without her consent or knowledge. They were as a self-driving car, or a plane on autopilot, and before she knew it, she had arrived at her intended destination.

She walked over to the nearest pier and stepped onto the wooden platform. She slowly walked to the end and stared at her reflection in the water below. Without a sound she sat down and allowed her legs to hang over the edge. Angelo sat obediently by her owner's side, looking up at the girl.

Rinoa absentmindedly began running a hand through her dog's fur as she stared out at the horizon.

She couldn't help but wonder what life would be like from now on. She had naturally assumed that she and Squall would get to spend all their time together, now that they were living together. Of course it had only been a day, but even so, she'd barely seen him at all.

It was understandable for him to be busy during the day but he was kept away even during the evenings and nights. When was she supposed to spend time with him?

_There's always Sunday._ When she thought of the promise Squall had made her, to take her to the beach, she couldn't help a smile from creeping up the sides of her face.

"Excuse me, miss," a voice spoke. Rinoa turned around to see a young man standing behind her with the clichéd construction workers tin lunchbox in one hand, and a fishing pole in the other.

"Huh," Rinoa asked.

"You're in my spot."

"So? Just go over there," Rinoa retorted, pointing out the next wharf, to the right of where she was sitting.

"But you're in my spot," the man repeated.

"I was here first," Rinoa argued. "Just go somewhere else. It's all the same, anyway."

"I can see you know nothing of what you speak," the man smirked.

"Leave me alone."

"I'm afraid I can't forgive your ignorance. You see, at this time of the day, in this exact spot, the famous Balamb fish just jump right out of the water."

"I've been here a few minutes now and I sure haven't seen any jumping fish."

"I didn't mean that literally, I'm talking about fly fishing."

"I see… don't most people fish for… you know, fish? I thought only spiders hunted flies."

"Not fishing for flies, fly fishing. It's when the lure sits on the water's surface. Here, move aside and I'll show you."

"This is going to take a long time, isn't it?"

"If you need to ask, then it's not for you. Fishing is all about patience and concentration."

"Yeah, well, as fun as all that sounds, I'll pass. I need to get going anyway." Rinoa stood and began walking back toward the heart of the town, Angelo following obediently at her heels.

"Huh," the young fisherman said, perplexed, not understanding how anyone could not enjoy such a gratifying activity, "was it something I said?" With a shrug, he sat down and set himself up and cast his line into the water.

After no less than a couple of minutes, he saw his lure bob down under the water's surface. His eyes widened in excitement and he set to work, eagerly pulling at his line and reeling it in, only to have the fish elude him. Suddenly, he looked down. In time to see something slip away.

"I dropped a gil," he said, calmly commenting as the coin slipped steadily further away from him, sinking deeper into the depths of water below.

* * *

"Rinoa, over here," Zell called out to the girl walking ahead of him. "Wait up," he requested.

Rinoa stopped walking and looked back. Sure enough, Zell and Quistis were approaching from behind her.

"What is it," the raven haired girl asked once the two had approached.

"I see you're walking your dog," Quistis observed.

"Yeah, well I had to do _something_ to get out of that prison you locked me up in," Rinoa retorted.

"See, I told you that was a bad idea to lock her in," Zell told her.

"Yes," Quistis seemingly conceded. "It's just a shame you didn't speak up when we made the decision to lock the door."

"So why _did_ you lock me in the house all day, were you worried I'd steal all your _wonderfully extravagant_ stuff?"

"We didn't mean anything by it," Quistis assured her defensively. "We just had to lock the door."

"Why?"

"One should always lock the door when leaving the house unoccupied. Don't you even know that?"

"The house _wasn't_ unoccupied," Rinoa said, beginning to lose her patience with the over-studious blonde.

"No… but you were asleep."

"But Anglo would have woken me up if anyone tried to break in, wouldn't you girl?" the dog merely whined. "Oh, that's right. You couldn't could you… because you aren't allowed in the house!" She sent an accusatory glance toward Quistis, as if to say 'it's all your fault.'

"Don't blame me!"

"No, I'll blame whoever's fault it is… that would be you, wouldn't it?"

"Say what you want. No dogs allowed – those are the rules. Sorry, there's nothing I can do."

"Let's drop it."

"You know, I think that's the only smart thing I've ever heard you say." Rinoa glared at the blonde.

"It's kind of strange though, don't you think? This seems like the kind of place where people wouldn't _bother_ to lock up."

"Zell!" The three of them turned in the direction of the voice. Quistis, who had been about to say something, instead closed her mouth, opening it once more only to give an exasperated sigh.

"Oh no, not today."

"What is it," Rinoa asked, squinting into the distance.

"It's that damn rascal again," Zell explained calmly.

"What rascal?"

"It's a rowdy little boy," Quistis informed the new girl. "He's always playing in the streets and causing problems, and he has a massive crush on Zell here."

"He does not!" Zell roared.

"Hey, I think you may have touched a nerve there, Quisty," Rinoa jested. By now, she could see the child running toward them."

He was laughing as he ran. He laughed so hard, it was as though running with his eyes closed, right into the stream of traffic.

"Oh no," Quistis observed.

The next sound was of honking and screeching, as an oncoming truck driver did his best to not hit the child who had carelessly run into the road.

The rascal realized the danger he was in, but instead of running out of the danger zone, he froze stiff, like a deer caught in a pair of headlights. There was no way the truck could stop in time.

All that remained was to await the inevitable mashed child dinner to be served on the road.

* * *

**See me now, I'm grinning maniacally. I didn't intend to leave off there but this seems like as good a place as any.**


	7. Chapter 7

**The Slacker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VIII

**The Boy**

The boy had run, his time had come. His running had stopped, smile of glee turned into Halloween mask of horror. Rinoa stared at the scene; her chocolate eyes stricken, wide open with the terror of death.

The scene before her seemed to slow down to a crawl before Rinoa's wide eyes. That child. That 'rascal' as everyone called him. There was no way he could get away in time. Even if he were to snap back to reality and attempt the jump to safety, there was no way he'd make it now. It was too late.

There was about to be an awful tragedy, an accident. Someone had to do something, but nobody could. No one else was around, save for the three of them, and Angelo, but a mere dog could not stop a truck. It was physically impossible, wasn't it…?

_No,_ Rinoa snapped at herself. Now wasn't the time for that. Her eyes darted quickly between Zell and Quistis. They both seemed stunned, unable to move. They couldn't, or wouldn't act to help the poor boy.

Sure, he was acting carelessly, but he seemed so happy. He didn't deserve to be struck down by some truck. He'd just been blinded by happiness, that's all. Was that truly cause for him to be run down? He didn't deserve to die in the street. Balamb was supposed to be a quiet harbor town.

Sending fleeting glances every which way, Rinoa let out a whimper and sprinted forward, toward almost certain destruction, Angelo's lead falling to the ground to save the dog a tragic and potentially gruesome end.

The girl's long legs took her bounding across the open ground, taking her leaping off the safety of the pavement and onto the dangers of the sealed gravel road in the near distance.

The girl's feet pounded loudly against the stones of the road as she ran unthinkingly toward the horrendous scene. Her empty mind didn't know what to do. All she could think of was that something had to be done, and Zell and Quistis clearly weren't going to help.

She didn't know what she could do, or even whether or not she would be of any use. There was a chance that she could potentially become just another casualty on the ground, someone else to lie injured on the road.

Even so, she couldn't just do nothing. Her legs carried her closer toward the boy and her lungs began to burn. Perhaps it was the worry racing through her mind, but Rinoa was already out of breath.

She ran mindlessly at full speed like a runaway freight train with her rails taking her in the direction of the rascal. Her body acted without her conscious consent, as though she weren't herself. She ran right through the rascal, effectively tackling him and picking him up at the same time.

All but the boy was inconsequential. In all honesty, the entire event was a blur. Her very vision seemed to have faded to darkness, veiled and blinded by an obscure black.

The girl could recall sprinting at full steam as though her very life depended on it, which it did, and not only her own life. She felt the passing wind as the truck blew past her, the driver still honking his horn, be it out of concern or impatience.

By that time, both Rinoa's feet had left the ground in what she hoped would be a heroic dive. She had a single thought running through her head. She had to protect this boy. With her intention known, she awkwardly positioned herself so that when she hit the ground, she would be able to shield the child from the scraping effects of the harsh road.

Rinoa managed to roll herself in mid-flight so that she was below the rascal, with her arms tightly around him, lest he fall away and get hurt another way.

Rinoa wasn't sure how long she lay there, but she felt the harsh impact of hitting the ground and noted that it was a while after that before she could feel the boy relax against her.

The rascal slowly opened his eyes and relaxed his grip on the older girl's sides. He tilted his head slightly, still allowing it to rest on the girl's modest bust as it continued rapidly to rise and fall in time with her hurried, yet deep breaths.

He looked up and met the girl's face. "Uh, thanks…" he awkwardly stated, a blush beginning to grow on his young face.

"Um, no. Don't mention it," Rinoa replied, trying her hardest not to match the young rascal's steadily flushing face.

"Well well well," Quistis taunted as she and Zell made their way over, now that it was safe, "what is this?" Rinoa looked up to them.

"What is it?"

"If you want to cheat on Squall, you should find someone a little older. This boy is a tad underage, I think."

"Shut up," Rinoa stated. By now, the Rascal had gotten to his feet."

"Hey, I wouldn't blame you. It's been a while since you've seen him. You don't even know that he's been faithful."

"What are you talking about?"

"I suggest you ask Squall about it," Quistis smirked.

"Don't be mean," Zell argued toward the blonde.

"What's she talking about," the raven haired girl asked the spiky haired blond boy."

"It's nothing, just ignore her. She's just trying to tease you," Zell replied reassuringly, reaching down to help the girl up."

"Thanks," Rinoa said, brushing herself off and moving away from the road.

"Hey, you're the hero here," Zell said.

"I wouldn't call myself a hero. I just, acted."

"You still did a good thing. That makes you a hero, right?"

"Really?" Rinoa looked from Zell, to the boy, and then to Quistis, who nodded.

"In that case, could a hero's dog get a chance to stay in the house," Rinoa asked hopefully.

"I don't think so," Quistis replied instantly.

"Huh, why not?"

"Sorry, not a chance. You know the rules. No dogs allowed."

"This is _so_ not fair," Rinoa complained.

"Don't worry," Zell said in an attempt to cheer the girl up. "I'll personally make sure your dog has a big meal tonight. Does that sound fair to you?"

"Okay."

"And, if that weren't enough, I'll even take you out to get something to eat. We'll all go."

"That's fine by me," Quistis answered.

"Me too!" the rascal added. All eyes were then on Rinoa.

"How can I refuse," she added with a grin, remembering that she had eaten nothing all day. Then, as if triggered by the thought, her body involuntarily began emitting a low groaning sound as her stomach began to rumble. "I guess I could use a meal."

"Great! I know just the place!"

"Uh, Zell," Quistis warned, as though knowing what he was thinking and knowing that it did not bode well, "considering the company, I think we should go somewhere else."

"Huh, why?"

"Something Squall said… I'm not comfortable taking the little rascal here to a place like that."

"Oh, okay then. How about a cheeseburger then?"

"I don't mind."

"How about you?" Zell asked the rascal.

"That's great!" Zell then looked to Rinoa.

"And you?"

"Sounds good."

* * *

After rescuing the big bad rascal from his new life as a pancake, the three teens took him to the local fast food restaurant for a burger and a drink. While it didn't actually cost all that much, it was greatly appreciated not only by the child himself, but also by his raven haired savior, who just so happened to have been running on an empty stomach all day, due to her attempt at toasting bread going horribly wrong.

Rinoa knew that most girls back in Galbadia would cringe at the fatty smell and the cream colored walls of such an establishment, but Rinoa was easily pleased. She didn't mind going to a place like this once in a while. In fact, she was actually astounded that stubborn fusspots like those girls back home actually managed to find dates, with their mineral water this and their naturally birthed salad that.

Rinoa was amazed that guys put up with it. Then again, she wondered what kind of sexual favors they got out of it on their end. It would surely have to be amazing, to compensate for them putting up with so much bother.

Rinoa couldn't help the sly grin that crept up on her. It was so sudden, so unexpected. As was the realization that it was there. She hadn't even noticed it until –

"Rinoa, what's so funny?"

"Huh," the girl had asked dumbly.

"Why are you smiling?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about something that happened in Galbadia, that's all."

"What was it?"

"Nothing, just the people."

"Yes, I could have assumed that much, but what about them?" That was Quistis.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"So what, you can't tell me? What, I'm not good enough for you or something?" Rinoa gave an exasperated sigh, a sigh that was perhaps too loud and too forced.

"Quistis, can we _please_ not do this now? Could you just do me a favor and drop it?"

"Fine," the blonde said, sounding slightly offended.

After dropping the boy off at his home, the girl's had left. Zell had opted to stay and hang out with the rascal, while Quistis and Rinoa both made their way home.

When they got there, Quistis had reached for her key, but found the door unlocked with no signs of life to be found coming from within.

"It seems you and Squall both share a certain laziness in not locking the doors."

"Or perhaps we trust our neighbors."

"Perhaps, or perhaps such trust is foolish."

"Then I guess I'm a fool."

"So you finally admit it, but where you guess, I know. You _are _a fool."

* * *

Zell strolled into the stockroom at the back of the general store and walked past an open bag of confectionaries. Unquestioningly, he walked past and picked one up, popping it into his mouth as he went.

He saw Squall at the back of the room, loading up a dolly with miniature crates of supplies to go on the shelves.

"I'll handle the baked goods section, you take dairy," the brunet instructed in lieu of greeting.

Zell nodded, still chewing the small sweet mass of green in his mouth and made his way into a large walk in fridge to load up a dolly of his own.

The two youths each took their respective departments and began stocking the shelves for the next day. It was easy work, but the store became so quiet when it was closed. Zell didn't like it.

Zell was a lively fellow. He needed things to be big, loud and full of life. Working in a store late at night after everyone had gone home was hardly the ideal job for him. He needed to be where people were. It wasn't so bad on Thursdays and Fridays, because he shared half a double shift with Squall on those days.

Squall may not have been the most talkative person in the world, but it was better than nothing. If it were possible, he'd prefer to change shifts so that he was working with someone else every day.

As it happened, however, such a thing was not possible. Someone had to work the equivalent of a graveyard shift. The store closed at ten and all employees were sent home by eleven, after everything was made ready for the next day.

Rinoa was new, and didn't seem to be doing anything at all yet. Perhaps Squall could talk her in to sharing Zell's shift, late at night. He wondered if that would appeal to the girl at all. If it was true that she came from the unsleeping city, then she'd probably want to be out at night doing _something. _Perhaps working could be that something.

"Probably not," he thought as he finished stacking the refrigerated shelves with milk, yoghurt and cheese. "I'm sure she'd do anything but work a quiet job like this.

Zell took his empty dolly over to where Squall was working and gave him a hand with the loaves of bread that remained.

"How do you finish so fast," Squall wondered aloud.

"Hey, I'm a fast worker," Zell replied, scratching the back of his head. "So, did you hear what Rinoa did today?"

"I'm guessing nothing."

"No." Squall arched an eyebrow. "We met up with her when she was walking her dog."

"How interesting," Squall dryly answered.

"Do you know the big bad rascal?"

"Yeah, that kid's gonna get hit by a car or something one day."

"Yeah, about that," Zell said, a big goofy grin attaching itself to his thin male lips, "Funny story…"


	8. Chapter 8

**The Slacker**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Final Fantasy VIII

**The Weekend**

Darkness, peace, rest…

Rinoa lay in a dreamless state. Unthinking, undreaming, at rest. She needed her rest, after the day she'd had. That was why she hadn't appreciated it when some insensitive jerk had woken her out of her blissful tranquility.

"Rinoa?" he'd asked, nudging her.

By way of response, she had merely groaned and rolled over. Perhaps sharing a bed with Squall _did_ have its downsides. _Darn early risers._

Then she felt his fingers against her as he tried a different approach. He was gentle at first, but then began applying more pressure. He ran two fingers down the side of her neck.

Rinoa tilted her head to the side as he arched his area of contact upward, to a place they both knew from experience was sensitive for her.

The fingers found their way behind the girl's ear and followed the shape of her earlobe as though it were the rail of a train.

Then, he pressed in that area she loved so much and her entire body shuddered as she turned over and stretched.

Rinoa looked up at him through sleepy – yet now awake – eyes.

"Good morning," she whispered, then looked to the window and the lack of light. "Or is it still evening? Why the heck did you wake me up so early?"

"If you want us to spend time together, this is your chance."

"Oh, you just have _great_ timing, don't you?"

"Ah, sorry, but I've been wanting to spend time with you and right now is the only chance I've had so far." Rinoa's eyes widened and her face tinged, coloring her cheeks with the slightest shade of pink.

"But, what can we do this early?" Squall had to admit, by this question, he was stumped. He shrugged his shoulders.

"We could watch the sunrise?" Rinoa gave an exasperated sigh. If she had raised herself up off the pillow on which her head had been resting, she needn't have bothered, for her body now slumped down.

"Getting up before dawn is for the insane."

"Are you sure," Squall enquired. "This will be our only chance to do anything until Sunday.

"That's tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah."

"Hmn, get up now or go back to sleep," Rinoa tiredly drawled. "The neighs have it. I can wait one day for you."

"Okay, if you're sure."

"Yeah. Right now, I just want to sleep. Why don't you join me," she asked with a yawn.

"I can't."

"Why not," Rinoa asked, yawning again. "You were going to waste time just staring at the sky. Why not use them to relax with me, instead? It's practically the same thing."

"Because I may not want to get up when it is time." Rinoa blushed again. There was something about Squall today, why was he making her face so consistently warm?"

"Is that so bad, it's Saturday, right? Just call it a day off. I'm sure you've earned it. You're gonna tire yourself out if you don't take a break every so often."

"I'm sure you're the guru in terms of relaxation."

"You've got that right," Rinoa replied with a grin.

"Well, as good as all that sounds, I have responsibilities I need to take care of. If you want to spend time with me, I'm afraid you're going to have to get up."

"That's a shame," Rinoa dismissed, closing her eyes and rolling over to make herself comfortable. "I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

Rinoa drifted in and out of sleep after than until she woke once more, this time naturally, several hours later.

She lazed about, undecided about whether or not she should make the effort to get up. As she did so, she couldn't help but feel pity for Squall, who had never heard of lazy Saturday mornings, or afternoons, or evenings.

How could someone be so smart and so clueless at the same time?

It was probably to do with Quistis in some way. She was like that as well. The pair of them were always so stressed out, as though carrying some massive burden on their backs. They needed to learn to relax. That's what weekends were for, not to squander doing extra jobs.

Quistis was a bad influence on him. Without Rinoa around, Squall had grown up too fast. Now he was thinking like an adult. It was like Rinoa had found another family, two overly stressed out parents who didn't have time for her, two Caraways.

Rinoa didn't need that, she already had a parent like that, the parent who had given her an ultimatum – get a job, or get out. Great parenting that was, worthy of an Odine prize. Although, in his defense, he probably hadn't expected her to leave. He thought she'd react with fear to the threat and instantly step into line…

– what a joke that was.

Rinoa slid her legs over the side of the mattress and stretched her body, doubling over so that her torso resided above her thighs like a closed suitcase, her long hair trailing down, around, and between her legs; and tickling her knees. She stretched her arms and legs strait out before her, before allowing gravity to send her toward the floor.

Once the soles of her feet connected with the soft carpeted floor, Rinoa slowly began to straighten herself up and shed her night attire, walking entirely nude toward the direction of Squall's chest of drawers.

Since Rinoa had been here a few days so by now, Squall had cleared the bottom two drawers for her so she'd have somewhere to put her things. Of course, them being on the bottom wasn't the ideal solution, since it required her to bend all the way over just to reach her underwear… which was located in Squall's room… not that she minded, of course. She didn't mind at all. She grinned mischievously at the thought.

Rinoa quickly dressed and made her way downstairs, where she found Quistis waiting for her.

Actually, the blonde wasn't waiting so much as she was stressing out over a piece of paper.

"Hey Quisty. Why don't you relax, you don't want to pop a blood vessel, do you?" The blonde hadn't the time toe even spare a single glare at the raven haired slacker as she continued her self destructive quest for knowledge. "What are you doing anyway?"

"Studying, what does it look like?"

"This furiously," Rinoa asked, "You look like you're trying to crack a code that will decide the fate of the world or something."

"Do you mind," the irritated blonde asked, trying to shoo the pest away.

"Not really," Rinoa idly commented, looking over the blonde student's notes. "You got a test or something?"

"No, I have to keep everything fresh in my mind so I don't forget and fall behind."

"So… you don't have a test coming up."

"No," Quistis stated, her voice seething with irritation, "I don't.

"Then why are you working so hard? Actually, strike that. Why are you working at all? It's a Saturday. You have the day off, right?"

"Yes, that's exactly why I have to work so hard, so that I don't get lazy and fall behind. I don't want to end up like you, do I?"

"Gee, thanks. Glad I can be your example."

"You have to prove useful some way or other."

"So let me get this straight. You don't have a test."

"For the third time, no."

"And you're studying like it's the final exam or something and you just got out of a six month coma."

"This is how I prepare."

"Prepare for what? There's nothing to prepare for! You're already in, aren't you? You don't have an entrance exam or anything. You seriously need to get a guy."

"What's it gonna take for you to leave me alone for a few hours? Why don't you go back to sleep?"

"Fine Quisty, I'll leave… but just so you know, you're not impressing _anybody_." Rinoa turned and left the blonde to her own divine destruction.

Once out in the fresh air, she headed next door to spend some quality time with her girl.

With lead in hand and Angelo walking obediently at her heel, Rinoa walked through Balamb's residential district and headed for the harbor, although she didn't happen to get very far before she had someone calling out for her to wait.

"Rinoa!" The raven haired girl turned to see the boy from yesterday running to catch up to her.

"Well, look who it is," Rinoa commented.

"Hey, thanks again for yesterday," the boy said, looking up at her.

"Don't mention it. I'm glad I could help, I mean I couldn't just stand there and do nothing."

"Yeah. My mother says I can't play in the street anymore, but I still do," the boy mischievously stated."

"Well, you can't let people live your life for you. I know what it's like having people tell me what I can't do all the time. Maybe you should come with me until you learn to look where you're going."

"Really, I can come with you?"

"If you want to."

"Okay, where are you going?"

"I was going to go to the harbor. It's so cozy over there."

"Ah, yeah… I don't like the harbor. Can we go somewhere else instead?"

"Like where," Rinoa asked.

"Have you seen the town entrance?"

"No, I came here from the train station."

"Then come on, I'll show you. It's this way!" The boy then proceeded to show Rinoa where she should go; or rather he took off at full speed and left it to her to keep up with him.

The girl didn't even dare ask the boy to slow down, for fear of her legs slowing from lack of concentration, and distraction causing her to lose track of the boy completely. She'd already been lost once this week. She _really _didn't want it to happen a second time.

The boy led her down what appeared to be some kind of main road, possibly the central road of the entire town. It led the duo and their dog across many intersections, thus forcing them to cross many roads. Luckily, they weren't all as busy as they could have been.

Rinoa knew that had they been in Deling, each one of these roads they were crossing would have been controlled by traffic lights directing them to wait or cross.

Rinoa managed to catch up to the boy while he waited at the edge of one of the roads.

"Hey, you waited, that's good of you," the girl commented. "I was afraid I'd lose you. You're a fast runner. I can hardly keep up with you."

"Really?"

"Yeah." The rascal grinned.

"The entrance is right up there," the boy instructed, starting up again, giving Rinoa no time to catch her breath.

Before she knew it, she and her dog were off running again. _At least Angelo is getting plenty of exercise today, _the girl grudgingly thought.

Suddenly, the rascal stopped running when they met a sign.

"So this is the Town entrance," Rinoa stated, talking mainly to herself. She turned to the boy. "Do you know what's past this point?"

"The only thing of great significance is Balamb Garden, one of the world's most famous universities; but there's also a few factories and warehouses out amongst the Acauld plains, as well as an old shady tavern."

"I see. Those aren't anywhere near the beach, are they?"

"No, those are up by the caverns."

"Caverns?"

"Yeah. At the base of the mountains surrounding the continent, there's a cave mouth leading to an underground labyrinth filled with magma. It's a good place for geologists to study rocks. Some people also go there to study the animals that live there."

"What animals could possibly live in a dark cave?" Rinoa asked.

"That place is a haven for red bats."

"I hate bats," Rinoa shuddered. Just then, Angelo barked. "What is it, girl," Rinoa asked. She looked down to see the dog's furiously wagging tail. "What is it," Rinoa asked once more, but then she looked across the road to see a familiar figure watching them from the Service station.

"That's one of Zell's friends," the rascal said, noting the direction in which Rinoa was avidly staring.

"Yeah… What's he doing here… unless…?" She walked over the road where the young man was apparently waiting for them. "Squall," she asked the figure, "is this where you work on Saturdays?"

"I don't normally make a habit of stating the obvious," the brunet replied, "but yeah. This is where I work."


	9. Chapter 9

**The Slacker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VIII

**The Saturday Job**

Rinoa looked around. She craned her neck from left to right, as though searching for something. What that was, not even she herself was quite sure. Was this truly where Squall worked, at a service station? She looked him up and down. He wore black pants, a white shirt and a blue vest sporting the station's logo, matching the baseball cap he wore, which also was colored blue and was labeled on the front by the same logo. It all seemed to fit. It was strange, however. Rinoa had never pictured Squall as a barkeep for cars.

"Uh, Rinoa," the brunet asked.

"Huh?"

"What exactly is wrong, why are you looking around?"

"I never pictured you as the kind of guy who pumps gas in the weekends."

"Why not, it's a job, isn't it?"

"Well, sure," Rinoa defended. "It's just kind of weird imagining _you_ doing it."

"How so," Squall asked, "It's not as if I've become a total grease monkey while you've been gone. All I do is fill up people's tanks and wash their windscreens." Rinoa couldn't contain the amused grin that crept up on her, swiping possession of her face from her. What began as a quiet snicker soon became a full hearty laugh.

"Huh, why are you laughing," the rascal asked.

"I also am perplexed," Squall admitted. "Rinoa, exactly what do you find so amusing?"

"I'm sorry, Squall. It's just… the way you said that."

"What about it, that's just what I do for extra money. I take my hose, shove it in the appropriate hole, fill it up, and then wash them down until they're all clean again."

"Are the customers always satisfied by your performance?"

"What," Squall asked confusedly. What was she getting at? "Well, yeah, I guess."

"And… how many tanks do you fill each day?"

"There're too many to count."

"My my, how _do_ you keep up?"

"It's only one day a week, but there's so many. There's no way I could keep count without paperwork, even if I wanted to."

"Oh my," Rinoa replied, only just managing to keep her voice strait. "I think I'm jealous." By now, Rinoa had given herself wholeheartedly into her laughter, much to Squall's exasperation.

Squall frowned, his face creasing the way it did when he was frustrated or deep in thought. "What is it," he asked, seemingly annoyed.

"Squall, the way you explained that, it's so funny. You should be a comedian or something."

"Whatever," Squall replied dismissively, brushing aside the fact that he didn't understand exactly what the immature slacker found so funny. "What brings you two here, anyway?"

"Should you really be taking the time to talk to me? I'm sure you have a lot of work to do." Squall looked around.

"There're no customers right now, it should be fine."

"Taking a break, huh? I think I'm starting to become a bad influence on you."

"Maybe, just a little," Squall smiled.

"I'm so proud," the slacker stated

Squall looked around again. There were no cars around. Today was such a slow day. There was nothing that could be done about it. It was just one of those things that happened. It wasn't even a bad thing, really. It's just that it made Squall's day unendurably boring. He was grateful for Rinoa for coming to ease the placidity of his day. Truth be told, it was frightening just how accurate her talk of him needing to take a break was. He'd even been thinking along those same lines recently.

"So, when do you end your um… shift here?"

"Around noon," Squall answered the slacker.

"Really, that's not too far away, is it," Rinoa thought. Maybe I won't have to wait for you after all."

"Yes you will."

"Huh?"

"I'll have about an hour to myself after this, before I have to go to my other job at the store." Rinoa gave an exasperated sigh and shook her head in disappointment.

"Oh man, Squall. When do you rest? You're gonna blow your brain out if you're not careful."

"I…" Squall paused, unable to continue, his head filled with the imagery Rinoa had just given him. "Are you suggesting I may grow overly stressed and contemplate shooting myself in the head?"

"What, where did _that_ come from," Rinoa asked, her expression one of horror.

"That's what you just said. I might become stressed and blow my brain out."

"What? No," Rinoa replied, gesturing with her hand as if to exaggerate her refusal. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I just meant you might overload your brain and have a nervous breakdown or something."

"Oh, I guess that's a little better."

"You're not, right?"

_Huh, not what, _Squall wondered, examining Rinoa's suspicious and worried eyes. "What are you concerned with?"

"You're not actually considering buying a gun, are you?"

"No," the slightly aggravated brunet replied.

"So you're not contemplating suicide?"

"Hell no."

"And… you're sure you're not gonna go out on a homicidal rampage?"

"Do I look like an implosive paper-jockey to you?"

"No, not really… but you're kind of acting like one. It makes me worry sometimes." Squall couldn't help but smile at the girl's overactive imagination.

"Don't worry; I'd never do anything like that. You're just imagining things again."

"Well," she stated with a suspicious eye, "If you do, give me a warning, alright? I want a head start." Squall's lip pulled upward in an amused smirk.

"Alright, I promise. If I were to ever do something like that, I swear I wouldn't hurt you, okay?"

"Okay… but you know, all people say that to those they care about… but they're family is usually the first to go."

"I guess it's a good thing we're not technically family then, isn't it," Squall added, playing along with the slacker's unfounded suspicions.

"I guess… How about Quistis, would you kill her?"

"No, of course not."

"Oh," Rinoa stated, "too bad," she added, much quieter. It didn't go unheard by Squall. He smirked amusedly once more.

"Hey, you kids over there!" The three of them looked over in the direction of the voice to see a man coming over.

"Who's that," the rascal asked.

"That would be my boss," Squall lamented. "You'd better leave. I'm supposed to be working right now. Rinoa, I'll see you back at the house."

"Ah, so you do call it a house," Rinoa concluded, having found an answer to her question from earlier.

"Well, I do. I'll see you later, just wait at the house for me."

"Yeah, alright."

The two of them turned and left just as the manager approached them.

"Who are those kids," he asked his employee.

"Just some friends of mine."

"Right, well they're gone now. C'mon Squall, get back to work."

Squall turned and smirked, mentally noting the fact that there weren't any customers today.

* * *

Back at 'the house' as Squall called it, Rinoa sat, lazing away as she often did on the hard-cushioned couch as the thoughtless blaring of the television screen occupied her mind as it often did, while simultaneously keeping her company until Squall arrived to join her.

She never would have labeled herself as this kind of person, but she found herself anxiously awaiting the arrival of her brown haired gas station attendant. It was more than a little perplexing. She had never thought of herself as the kind of girl who would wait at home for someone. It was crazy. She had only seen Squall minutes ago. Did she really miss him this much? She couldn't even concentrate on the toilet cleaner infomercial she was watching.

She kept checking the time on the clock on the Wall by the dining table where Quistis had been working. Actually, Rinoa couldn't tell whether or not she had even stopped, let alone think about taking a break. She sat there still, straining her eyes over textbooks and papers laid out before her.

Rinoa opened her mouth wide to let out a hearty yet silent yawn and looked back to the television.

_Is it just me or is this thing going in circles,_ she asked herself. "Wait, don't answer that," she added audibly, but not enough for Quistis to hear. She picked up the remote control and flipped through the channels.

"Come on, it's Saturday," she complained. "Why isn't there anything worth watching? All this is good for is background noise."

"Then turn it off," Quistis called out, "I prefer to work in silence anyway."

"You wouldn't have to work at all if you were smart," Rinoa countered. "I like background noise. It makes me feel like I'm not alone when people keep _walking out on me_."

"Uh, sorry?" Rinoa looked over to the door to see it open with Squall standing in the doorway.

"Squall, I was waiting for you to get here."

"Yeah, I know. So when exactly did I walk out on you?"

"Oh, about that…" Rinoa replied, slightly embarrassedly.

"You know, I don't ever remember abandoning you."

"Well, that's because you're so good at it. You don't even realize you're doing it."

"I see," Squall conceded. "That must be it." He closed the door and walked over to join Rinoa on the couch. "Um, is there a _reason_ why you're watching this?"

"Oh no, I was just channel flipping when _someone_ distracted me."

"Don't mind me," Quistis remarked, "Simple minds are easily distracted."

"This is just a rerun of what was on during the week, anyway."

"How do you even know that? What, do you actually _watch_ this trash?"

"Well, I have been. It's really not so bad once you get into the story."

"It's about middle aged women with thick Galbadian accents and Older men with thinning hair and dark tans… what do you see in it."

"Hey, they've got pretty good body's for old men."

"Granted, but-"

"Oh Hyne, I never expected you to agree with me Squall!"

"As I was saying," Squall said, ignoring Rinoa's teasing ways completely. "It's about people who are good at basic math problems. What's the point? I mean, what's so interesting about that?"

"What do you mean, there are no math problems in here," Rinoa argued. _If there were, I wouldn't be watching. The only educational television I like is the one with the colorful puppets._ Rinoa smiled at the thought and a slight blush came to brighten her face.

"The women here are expert mathematicians. They can add monetary figures, work out percentages for sales, subtract clothes, divide lips – as well as legs – and on top of all that, they know when not to multiply."

"Wow Squall, you must really be into this." The brunet shook his head in defiance.

"These shows are for little old ladies on the pension. What are _you_ doing watching them?"

"Well, what am I _supposed_ to do when you all go out; watch porn, masturbate and eat cheese snacks all day!"

Squall tried, and failed to keep a straight face at that remark. He looked away, unable to match her eyes.

"No, but…"

"Then what should I do while I'm waiting for you to get home?"

"You… you just sit around waiting for me to come home?" Squall turned to face her, noting the monumentous buildup of embarrassment that was accumulating in Rinoa's eyes and cheeks."

"Oh Hyne, I just made myself sound so freaking pathetic, didn't I? And I thought Quisty was in serious need of a life."

"Don't worry about it. It's only natural. You left your life back in Deling, right?"

"Yeah."

"She could always get a job," Quistis suggested.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure people are lining up to hire me. I don't have any qualifications; I barely even graduated High School."

"But you _did_ graduate," Squall reminded her.

"What about that place Zell and I–"

"Forget about it," Squall cut off the over studious blonde. "I'm not having her work for that guy!"

"Why not, you don't think I could do it," Rinoa asked, hurt from Squall's apparent disbelief in her abilities. "Whatever it is, if she thinks I can't do it, I'll do it better than anyone's ever done… it."

"It's not a case of ability," Squall assured the raven haired slacker, calming her. "I simply don't want you working there."

"Why not, what is this place anyway?"

"It's… a café. You'd have to be a… kind of waitress."

"I can do that, it's _easy_," Rinoa bragged.

"Oh, I get it," Quistis teased. "Squall wants to keep you away from that place. It'd be terrible if his two girlfriends were to meet." Squall flinched at the implied accusation. He'd been dreading someone telling Rinoa about that brown haired Nekko serving girl. It wasn't as though anything were really going on between them, but even so. It was sure to be an awkward situation.

"Squall," Rinoa asked, looking him over with a suspicious eye. He could tell she was shocked by that announcement. "I don't want to believe anything _she_ says," She said, pointing a rude finger in Quistis' direction, "but…" she was pissed, Squall could tel., She was seriously struggling to keep her voice level, "Squall, is there anything you need to tell me?" Squall sighed, an expression of lament.

"It's nothing."

"Then tell me."

"That place… it's kind of… the waitresses dress kind of provocatively."

"So it's like a strip club," Rinoa concluded. "Is that all? I was afraid it was something serious." She gave a sigh of relief and the smile visibly returned to dance upon her features. "Phew, don't scare me like that, Squall."

"No, it's not… what do you mean 'that's all right then?' What if it _were_ a strip club, wouldn't you even care?"

"You mean it's not?"

"No, what kind of person do you think I am?"

"Oh, well, no, I wouldn't care… as long as it's nothing serious. So what is this place, anyway?"

"The easiest way to explain it… is to say it's a café for perverts."

"I resent that," Quistis called out.

"So it _is_ a strip club," Rinoa conjectured.

"No, not exactly."

"Are you a regular customer?" Squall looked over to Quistis, who nodded.

"Zell seems to be, so it may be so."

"Great, that means, if I had a job there, I could see you every day."

"You already see me every day."

"Only at night," Rinoa corrected him.

"Even so, I wouldn't want other people looking at you like…"

"Like what?"

"May I," Quistis asked, walking over to join them."

"What is this, a personal appearance," Rinoa jested, "what is the cause behind this great honor?"

"The sooner you two stop talking, the sooner I can get back to work," the blonde replied simply. "What Squall is saying is, he doesn't want other guys ogling and drooling over you. Keeping you from that place benefits him in the long run because he won't have to punch so many people in the nose for looking at you. Some guys are lazy that way. Their envy is surpassed only by their slothfulness."

"Squall," Rinoa asked, looking at him through softened eyes, "is that true?"

"…Something like that," the brunet admitted, turning away.

Rinoa gave him a small peck on the cheek, and the next thing he knew; she had her arms around him in a tight embrace. He looked to Quistis and raised an eyebrow to her questioningly. He quite honestly didn't see what the big deal with all this was. He certainly hadn't been expecting _this_ kind of reaction.

"If you want to thank me, just keep it down," Quistis told him, "and promise me you'll take her somewhere tomorrow. Take her out for the whole day. Just keep her out of my hair, okay?" Squall processed the blonde's request in his mind, and then nodded his head silently. It was a simple request. Squall had been planning to do that anyway.

* * *

Zell wandered down the road in the evening's fading sun, on his way to the store. It was going to be another long, boring, quiet day at work. He gave a sigh as he turned the corner. That was when he saw Squall heading in his direction.

"Ah, there you are," he greeted pleasantly, a big goofy smile on his face. "Are you ready for another fun day at the store," he joked.

"Yeah, but before that, I have a favor to ask you."

"Huh, since when does Squall ask favors," Zell asked.

"I know, but…"

"What is it?"

"I… I wonder if I could borrow your car for tomorrow."

"My car, for what?"

"I was thinking of going to the beach tomorrow."

"Gee Squall, thanks for the invite… Oh," Zell replied with a smug grin," realizing Squall's true intention, his true request.

"It doesn't matter if you need it. I've got a staff discount at the rent-a-car anyway, I'll just get one there for the day."

"No, don't worry about it Squall," Zell answered, a little too loud for Squall's liking. "I don't want to get in the way of you two, of course you can drive my car. Take it for the whole day."

"Ah, yeah. Thanks," Squall replied gratefully, walking beside the spiky haired blond. _That was easier than I thought. Well, that will keep Rinoa happy… and Quistis, too._


	10. Chapter 10

**The Slacker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VIII

**Author's Notes: **I hereby dedicate this chapter to all the mad people out there who refuse to see logic. I've discovered something. As long as one is using logic-based arguments (as I do,) not even the largest vocabulary in the universe will be of use against some people.

Forgive me Lords, this should have been up last Friday but I've been sick and away from the computer for a few days. I am super sorry (the alliteration goes to show you my level of lament.) I offer you my blood as compensation, but don't slice me up just yet. Please do read the chapter first. Maybe it was worth the wait?

**The Rent**

With a content moan, Rinoa allowed her groggy eyes to open and stretched out each of her four limbs as far as she could, almost reaching the sides of the single bed. That's when she realized, once again, that she was alone.

"Oh Squall," she complained, "Why are you never here when I wake up…" Her eyes snapped open with realization. It was Sunday. They had arranged to go somewhere today, had they not? In that case, Squall should definitely be here, beside her.

_Where the hell is Squall,_ she wondered. _Why isn't he here, did he leave without me? He's not working again, is he?_

Rinoa quickly dressed in a white t-shirt and pair of black shorts before heading down the stairs, noting the dead silence that surrounded her.

– Rinoa _hated_ silence. It was so… silent. It surrounded and entombed like a casket.

Once she found herself in the living room, she took note of the bright light that surrounded her. She made her way to the kitchenette and looked to the clock.

"It's only eight AM," she spoke the time out loud. "I wonder where Quistis is. Don't tell me she actually sleeps _in_ this late. I didn't think that workaholic _needed_ sleep, or food. I don't think I've ever seen her take a break."

While the words Rinoa spoke may have been nothing but the truth, the fact also remained. There was nobody home. No one was up, save for the slacker herself. She couldn't help but wonder what the blonde was thinking. Surely sleeping in late into the morning was some kind of dreadful breach of her boring, studious code.

That led her to another question, her first of the day, and the most important on her mind.

_Where the hell is Squall?_

Shrugging her shoulders, she decided to try the door. She walked over and pulled the handle, to find it unlocked.

Quietly, she slipped out, over the threshold and guided the door shut with her arm.

She turned around and looked up and down the street, craning her head to the left and right, raising her arm to protect her eyes from the harshness of the sun's rays.

It was then that she saw the car parked on the road outside Zell's house. She had sometimes seen it parked there in the late afternoons, but she didn't know to whom it belonged.

Leaning against the car was a rather bored looking Squall. As their eyes met, Squall carried a serene expression. Rinoa couldn't tell what he had been doing out here. Neither eyes nor face were willing to betray their master. Rinoa casually made her way over to the car, meeting Squall halfway.

"Were you waiting for me," she asked him.

"Yeah… I was wondering when you'd get out here."

"Well _I_ was wondering where you were. You should've told me… Oh crap, you weren't waiting long, were you?" Squall shrugged his shoulders by way of response. "When did you first come out here, anyway?"

"It doesn't matter, really. I've had a lot to think about anyway."

"Uh-oh, I don't like the sound of that. You're not having second thoughts, are you?" Squall smirked as he looked into Rinoa's pleading eyes.

"I haven't changed my mind Rinoa, We're still going. You can count on that much, at least."

"Do you promise?" Squall exhaled a lung full of air in the form of an amused snort.

"Yes, I promise."

"O-okay then." Rinoa's suspicions seemed to drop as they both began to walk back to the car. "So what were you thinking about then?"

"Huh," Squall asked, rather surprised that she was interested in the least. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Of course I do. If I didn't, I wouldn't have asked."

"Yeah, I guess so…"

"So spill it already, what's on your mind?"

"It's just that, well, there may be a slight problem with you staying here."

"What is it? Do you want me to sleep on the floor? Whatever it is, I'll do it. Just please don't kick me out!" As Squall looked onto the slacker's large dark eyes, he noticed they were shining brightly in desperation.

"Rinoa…"

"Please, you can't. I'll do whatever you want me to. Just tell me what you want."

"It's… not that simple."

"What… what do you mean?"

"I mean if it were up to me, you'd be living here for good."

"So… the problem is someone else," the girl concluded glumly.

"Right," Squall confirmed.

"It's Quistis, isn't it," she declared angrily. "She doesn't want me around! I _know_ she doesn't."

"You're wrong," Squall calmly interjected.

"I'm not," she smirked, allowing her expression to contort in a bitter, humorless smile. "She's trying to drive me away. She never wanted me here. She _hates_ me, I know she does."

"Think what you will of Quistis, Rinoa. I've noticed that you two don't get along, but you're wrong. She hasn't said anything of the sort to me."

"She… hasn't?"

"No."

"Then… who?" Squall gave a sigh.

"The man we're about to meet." Rinoa's eyes widened, partially in surprise and partially in horror. Who was it that wanted her away from Squall? It couldn't possibly be… Could it? Not him, anything but that. She wouldn't go back. She _wouldn't_ go back.

"Please don't throw me out, Squall," the girl pleaded, eyes tightly closed, both arms wrapped around one of Squall's. The brunet looked down at her in amazement.

"It'll be alright," he said, wrapping his other arm around the girl in a comforting embrace.

"Really?"

_No, of course not really!_ Squall cringed at his own negativity. This wasn't the time for the pessimism of which he'd thought he'd rid himself.

"We're screwed, aren't we Squall," the girl asked destructively, meeting her boyfriend's insecure blue eyes.

Squall shook his head slowly and tightened his hold on the girl, almost possessively; which came as a shock, considering Squall was not prone to such displays of affection, especially out in the open where they could easily be seen by anyone. "It'll be fine, Rinoa. I'll defend you. We'll convince him."

Rinoa looked up with wide eyes at her savior, her defender, her protector, her… her knight. "I believe you," she stated, laying her head upon his shoulder and allowing her eyes to close, a sigh of contentment slowly escaping the sanctity of her lips.

* * *

Rinoa and Squall walked side by side, arms unlinked. They were not technically touching, but their proximity was such that their arms happened to brush past one another from time to time as they walked down the street. It would have been perfect, had Squall not been wearing long sleeves.

Rinoa didn't particularly know where she was, but she didn't mind. She was content to follow Squall wherever he might lead her, where that was however, remained unknown to her.

He had driven her in the car along a series of streets, leading her quite far from the main road and to somewhere that seemed to be quite remote; not that Balamb was a large city at all.

* * *

"_So, who's car is this," Rinoa asked. They were driving along some road or other. Rinoa didn't know. They all tended to blend together into one mushy mess. Honestly, she didn't even know where they were going or who they were going to see. She had her suspicions of course, but those frightened her more than blind ignorance, no contest._

"_It belongs to Zell, but he said I can use it today."_

"_I see…"_

"_We're here," Squall said unemotionally as he pulled the car up and parked it on the side of the road."_

"_Where… are we?" Squall didn't answer right away. After disengaging the vehicle's engine, he merely sat back thoughtfully._

_Finally, he turned to Rinoa with an all too serious look on his face._

"_He's waiting for us."_

* * *

They walked up to the road, passing building after building, until finally; Squall came to a stop and Rinoa, who had been following him intently, did the same, matching his timing exactly.

Squall looked up at the building he was now facing. It was a small house, if it could be called that. Beside the house itself, there was an outdoor stairway leading into a long dark hallway.

"He's up here," Squall explained. In response, he felt Rinoa grip his arm once more, holding it tightly. He was about to shrug her off when she suddenly caught his eye. Her expression was so worrisome. Why was she so nervous? Squall himself was dreading the outcome of Rinoa being sent away but at least he was able to hide it, to keep it concealed beneath the surface. Rinoa looked like a nervous wreck. It was a strange sight to behold. It was pitiful too, that Squall could find no words of comfort. He just didn't know what the future held. The chance of her being allowed to stay was around the region of fifty percent. _Fifty percent, I don't even know whether or not that is a good thing._ He sighed, feeling utterly useless at that exact moment. She wanted reassurance, Squall knew she did, but he couldn't give it to her. He just didn't know. What could he say?

Rinoa seemed to sense the uncertainty in his eyes, try as he might to hide it from her. "Squall," she pleaded. "You're right behind me in there, aren't you?"

"Technically, I'll be right in front of you."

"Squall," the girl whined, although the remark had scored a smile against her anxious expression, of that there was no dispute.

"Just… just stay close to me. I'll do what I can, okay?"

Rinoa nodded and tightened her hold on him, and they were soon on their way once more, traversing step after step into the long narrow hallway.

Squall had been here many times before. Each and every time he came to see this man; he had to climb these stairs. He had to walk blindly through the dark tunnel-like hallway lit with blown fluorescent bulbs. It was a wonder those lights had yet to be replaced, even now, after so much time. Did he not see it as a hazard?

Every time Squall came to see him, he was forced to walk through this hallway. Each time, he noted how long it seemed. This time, it seemed longer than ever.

With Rinoa clinging to his side, the pair took up the entirety of the narrow stairway. It was fortunate that there were no people heading in the opposite direction, or they would have had no room to pass. For that reason, people generally tended to walk in single file on narrow catwalks and stairways, but then again, Rinoa never _was_ the type to follow everyone else's protocol.

Squall looked beside him. He was certain that Rinoa had to be nervous, but she seemed to be hiding it well enough now. If he didn't know any better, he'd assume that she'd forgotten. She seemed to be happily walking along with him as though they were merely taking a casual walk together, a walk that ended all too soon.

Sure enough, they eventually came to the end of the hallway, a wooden door.

Squall knocked on the door and waited for it to open.

"So it's you," the man said, much to Rinoa's confusion.

"Ah, Squall, who is this?" The man's eyes were drawn to the raven haired girl, and subsequently narrowed.

"A question I should be asking," he muttered equally to himself as much as his visitors. "I suppose you should come in," he said, opening the door wider and stepping aside to make room for them.

Squall nudged Rinoa forward, silently instructing her to walk ahead of him. _I guess he's behind me after all, _she thought to herself, keeping one curious eye on the strange man.

Just as she'd hoped, Squall followed closely behind.

"Do sit down," the man invited as he shut the door.

"Wow, this place sure does look a lot bigger from the inside," Rinoa outwardly mused.

"Of course it does," the man replied, turning to approach the girl. "I own properties all over Balamb. It stands to reason that I would take some of the largest and most luxurious for myself, does it not?" Rinoa raised an eyebrow at the man as he came closer.

"You own properties?"

"Yes, I lease them out to people all over the city. That is where I get my income."

"Wow," Rinoa marveled. "It must be easy to work at home. I'll bet it beats going out and exhausting yourself."

"I wouldn't say it's easy… and it really is more of an investment than a job."

"What's the difference?"

"Cid Kramer," the man said, thrusting his hand before the girl.

"Huh…? Oh," she said, realizing what he was doing. "I'm… Rinoa."

"Well then, it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Rinoa."

"Just Rinoa," the girl corrected."

"So you wish to know the difference between a job and an investment, do you?"

"Yes. Isn't it the same thing?"

"No… I believe Squall can fill you in." Rinoa looked over to the brunet in the seat beside her.

"Investments are not guaranteed to profit," he illuminated.

"Yes," Cid judged. "That is a simplification, but what you say is correct."

Rinoa looked from the man, to Squall. "Wait, does this guy own our…"

"Yes, he does." The slacker looked back to the tall man. Her eyes traced his short brown hair down to the top of his neck. He didn't look entirely old, which was strange. Rinoa had imagined people like him to be greedy middle aged men.

"So then this girl is to be considered living with you, Squall," Cid asked firmly.

"Yes, that is why we are here, to ask you if it is alright, if she can move in."

"I don't think it is a good idea."

"I… see." Rinoa looked to Squall in shock.

_Is this what he calls being right behind me?_ "S'cuse me, Mister Cid?"

"Mister Kramer," Squall corrected the girl.

"Right," Rinoa replied. "What's your problem? Why is it so bad for me to move it? You let Quistis live there!"

_Rinoa…_ the young brunet mused, _can't you keep your big mouth shut? He must have his reasons, who cares why he feels that way? This… may not go as well as I'd hoped… or, is she…? No, she's definitely going somewhere with this. She must be. I have complete faith in her._

"That place is only suited for two," Cid explained. "If you were to move in, I'd have to get another bed, find a place to put it, rearrange everything, find a way to save face for keeping so many people in such small an apartment… do you have any idea how much work that all is?"

"So, you're going to just throw a sweet girl like me out on the street because it'll be hard? Just because you don't want to get off your lazy fat ass? How is _that_ fair?"

"She has an attitude, this one. Not at all like Quistis."

"Thank Hyne for that," Rinoa commented, drawing a silent laugh from Squall.

"Listen, Rinoa. It's nothing personal. I just don't think it's a good idea for another girl to move in. It could be a distraction." Unseen, Squall's lip pulled into a knowing smirk. Cid had just called Rinoa a mere distraction. She certainly wouldn't like that. Now Squall knew _exactly_ where this was going.

"You think _I'm_ a distraction? I never see Squall except when he comes home, and by that time, he's too tired to even talk to me! I'll show you a distraction!" Squall knew she could go on like this for hours if she needed to, and she would have, had Cid not put up a hand to silence her.

"I really don't have time for this. I am a busy man. How can we settle this swiftly?"

"You could let me stay."

"Or I could not." Rinoa was about to protest when Cid once more silenced her. "Squall, can you vouch for her?"

"Yes, of course."

"If she causes problems, you will both find yourselves without a place to live. Can you still stand firm behind her even knowing this? Are you prepared to take this liability on her behalf?"

"Yes, I am."

"And Rinoa, you said that you don't see Squall during the day. What _do_ you do?"

"Uh, do?"

"Yes. What is it that you do during the day? Do you study, or work or anything like that?"

"Uh… no."

"No, you do nothing," Cid asked incredulously.

"Rinoa is currently unemployed," Squall clarified.

"I see… that will have to change."

"Why," Rinoa asked.

"Simply put," Cid explained, "If you intend to stay, then you must be willing to contribute. Can you agree to these terms?" Rinoa shot a wary look in Squall's direction. Their eyes met briefly and they conveyed an unspoken discussion. She didn't know what to do, what to say. She couldn't make this decision by herself… but Squall seemed to sense her indecision. He answered the question for her. At his brusque nod, she conformed.

"Okay, I can agree to that."

"Are you sure?"

"I said I'd do it, didn't I," the girl replied somewhat uncouthly.

"And you can guarantee that nothing unsavory will occur within the walls of your apartment?"

"Huh, unsavory?"

"The people living with you are to be your roommates and nothing else."

"What's that to you?"

"This is a nice quiet place, Rinoa. My wish is merely to ensure that it stays that way. I don't want you youngsters doing anything that might, for example, keep the neighbors awake at night. I need your word. No loud music, no parties, no drinking, no narcotics, and no fooling around with your roommates. Can you comply with this?"

"Uh-"

"She complies," Squall interjected instantly, not giving the girl a chance to respond.

"Then I suppose I will have to find you a bed."

"No, you don't have to worry about that," Rinoa argued. "I don't mind the way things are now… I mean, uh… there's no rush or anything."

"I can't claim to know what your sleeping arrangements are… some people like to sleep on the floor so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"Of course I am."

"Very well then, we must discuss monetary matters."

"Mister Kramer," Squall asked the man, "Will this arrangement bring about a change to the amount of rent we pay?"

"No, the amount will remain the same, speaking of which, you are two months behind."

"Yes, I know," Squall replied, taking an envelope from an inside pocket of his jacket and handing it over.

Cid took several monetary notes, each in denominations of one thousand Gil. "You appear to be a month short," He said after counting the money.

"I apologize for that, I'll have it by next month, I promise."

"Very well, so long as you keep your word. You may leave," the man said, dismissing them.

Squall rose to his feet and led Rinoa outside, back to the street.

Once they were alone, Rinoa was finally able to vent her frustration from the meeting. She readied her palm for a slap and sent it strait for Squall's face, resulting in a rather loud and satisfying sound as her hand struck Squall's cheek. But rather than apologize like she was hoping, or even bother to look sorry, Squall merely raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"What was that for," he asked her.

"I thought you said you were gonna back me up in there?"

"Didn't I?"

"Don't give me that crap. When he first said no, you were gonna go with his decision! You weren't going to defend me at all were you, if I hadn't stepped in and held my ground, you'd have seen me thrown out!"

"Are you sure of that, Rinoa?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you think I brought you along? I could have gone to see him alone, but instead, I waited for you. I waited all morning for you to wake and come outside. I needed you to meet our landlord. It was essential for the present outcome."

"What are you saying?"

"I brought you here under false pretenses. I wanted you to come along and defend your case in person. Despite your shallow intellect and stunted vocabulary, there's no denying that you are far superior to me in terms of arguing. That's why you've won every little fight we've ever had."

"I always thought you _let_ me win."

"I always concede to you, but only because I know I can't win. Back before we were an item, I learned that it is futile to attempt argument against one who defies logic." Rinoa smiled at what she assumed to be a compliment. "In there," Squall gestured to the building where they had spoken with their landlord, "everything went exactly as expected. He's a busy man, and doesn't have time for lengthy discussions. I knew that if he could trigger you into a confrontation, he'd inevitably be forced to concede to your will."

"I see…" Rinoa's eyes widened. "Wait, does that mean you lied to me about everything? Does this mean we're not going on a date today?"

"I never technically used the word date," Squall countered."

"Oh," Rinoa said, looking away. Squall was hiding behind technicalities again. She felt undeniably hurt that she'd been used like this, even if it were for her own benefit.

"However, if that's what you want…" Rinoa looked back hopefully, her dark eyes shining with anticipation, "I suppose I can comply."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You've earned this much at least. Besides, I'll admit, I've also been looking forward to something of this nature. I need something calm and fun… something to help me relax. This week has been quite the tedious one." Rinoa couldn't contain the grin that crept up on her, overwhelming her. The goofy grin had hijacked her features and was showing no signs of relinquishing its hold of her.

* * *

**Okay, I'll freely admit, the meeting cid part more or less hijacked this entire chapter. I was going to have them go to the beach, but it didn't work out like that. The rest of it will be revealed next time. I guess I was just trying to haphazardly ram some drama down all your throats. To those of you whom read Angel of Decadence, I'll begin working on another chapter of that shortly.**

**As an afterthought, I wonder if any of you could help me decide something. The next FFVIII story I write will either be the first of a three part series (a trilogy, dare I say) that I have up 'till now been referring to as 'sorry.' either that or one that I've had in planning for much longer, a horror/thriller/romance kind of thing where SeeD is hired to protect Rinoa. I know it's been done before, but this is my take on it. Does anyone have any preferences?**


	11. Chapter 11

**The Slacker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VIII

The Beach

Rinoa turned to face Squall, a slight grin upon her face to show her excitement, most likely stemming from her expectations of the day ahead. She knew that she'd been disappointed once today, but Squall had promised. They were going somewhere, together. Just the two of them. She knew that Squall himself had never actually used the word date, but that's what it was, wasn't it?

_Is that what this is?_ It was, right? They were going out together. Did it really matter where that somewhere happened to be?

Rinoa's smile faltered as she came to terms with her ignorance. She didn't even know where they were going.

"Um, Squall?" she asked unsurely, pausing for a moment, awaiting his response, unknowing of what to say.

"Hmn?" Squall asked, his response a mere grunt. His attention remained solely on the road of which he was currently driving. He was taking them down some back street near the edge of the town of Balamb. Rinoa, on the other hand, had no idea where she was. Nor where she was going. She wouldn't normally have mind, but after that little excursion Squall had taken her on, she wasn't quite sure what to expect.

"Uh, well… where are we going?"

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"I… don't know." The way Squall had said that, it was almost like he'd ignored her, as if neglectful without the guilt, hiding behind yet another technicality. He had dismissed her question entirely.

Squall smirked at the girl's indecision, allowing a sharp snort to exit his nasal cavity.

"Are we… isn't this, I mean, this isn't just another errand you're taking me on here, is it?"

"Do you mind if it is?" Rinoa looked away, her attention still on Squall but her gaze now seemingly captivated by the passing scenery outside.

"Maybe."

"What are you worried about?"

"I'm not worried," Rinoa denied, hoping she sounded convincing.

"Okay," it seemed that she did, "but you're acting a little quieter than usual."

"Am I?"

"Yeah… do you not trust me, or is something else bothering you?"

"I told you I'm fine."

"Yes, but I don't believe you." Rinoa scowled at the window out of which she had absentmindedly been gazing for the present. "I'm sorry for dragging you into that back there, but like I said, it couldn't be helped."

"Yeah, I know that. You already told me." The raven haired girl spoke in a glum tone, her eyes half lidded.

"You're not… mad at me, are you?" Rinoa's eyes snapped open and she returned her gaze to the brunet beside her.

_Is that what he's worried about?_ "No, not at all. I understand that it was important and all. I just wish you'd have told me, that's all. I don't like being left out of the loop."

"So you want me to feed you updates of my life like some little kid who tells their mother everything when they get home from school?"

"Well, its better you have me to gossip to than your parents, right?"

"I suppose, but I really didn't think you'd be interested."

"I'll be glad for anything you say or do with me. I've been here for days now, but this is the only time we've been alone together. It feels like you're pushing me aside."

"I'm sorry if you feel neglected, but I'm in a really busy time of my life right now. It can't be helped."

"You always say that. You're always using excuses and hiding behind technicalities."

"No, Rinoa. I'm telling you the truth. I'm a full time student, which is stressful enough as it is, but on top of that-"

"You're stuck babysitting a spoiled brat like me?"

"No, that's not what I mean at all."

"Oh no? Then what were you going to say? Let's hear it, this should be good." A morbid mixture of fear, dread, and excitement played in Rinoa's tone, as well as in her eyes.

"I have to work two different part time jobs. It's not easy, but I have to do it, otherwise I won't be able to afford to live in Balamb."

"Then why doesn't Quistis help out? Maybe if she didn't spend all her time studying, she could go out and look for a job."

"Quistis does contribute… look, what do you want from me?"

"I just want you to spend more time with me. I want things to be like they used to be."

"Then… the first Sunday of every month will be our day to spend together. How about that?" Rinoa paused in thought.

"Make it every Sunday and you've got a deal."

"Every Sunday, you do realize that by going along with this, I'll have no time to myself, right?"

"Why would you need time by yourself? That's for lonely people… unless?" Rinoa's expression turned to a wicked smirk. "You need special Squall alone time?"

"If you must put it like that, then yes…" Squall replied, lulling her strange wording over in his head until he suddenly put two and two together and realized what she meant. "No, that's not it at all! I'm being serious. We all need our time alone to unwind and recharge."

"Can't you do that with me?" Squall sighed.

"Fine," he conceded, "but just us two, alright?"

"Of course," she grinned."

"Is that it?"

"Yeah, and I want us to tell each other everything."

"Even those things of which you may not want to hear?"

"What do you mean?"

"Some of it may be unpleasant. By shielding you from it, I can spare your feelings, but if you want everything…"

"I do, I want everything. You can start by telling me where we're going."

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Stop that," Rinoa cried out. "Just tell me!"

"Some things are better if they're kept as a surprise… but in this case, I guess it's not really a secret."

"What do you mean?"

"We're here, just like I promised," Squall explained as he pulled the car off the road. While their conversation served to distract her, Squall had brought her out of the town and to the coast. Just like he'd suggested days before, Squall and Rinoa had come to the beach.

Squall opened his door and exited the car, closing it quietly behind him. Rinoa did the same and they made their way down to the shore. There were already a few people present by the time they got there but all in all, it was still a serene and peaceful atmosphere. It was still quiet and relaxing.

"So what should we do," Rinoa asked tranquilly.

"Well, what do you normally do at the beach," Squall replied unhelpfully.

"Oh. I get it. You're leaving this all up to me, right? You're just along for the ride."

"Something like that."

"Fine!" Rinoa huffed.

She ran down the sandy beach toward the water, leaving Squall to follow in her wake, an amused smile on his face as he watched her run. He wondered where she got the energy from. She was usually so lazy, even when they had been in school, back in Deling.

As Rinoa's quickly paced strides took her ever closer to the shoreline, Squall merely walked in her direction, making a slow line toward her, the way a father would when watching over his daughter, allowing her to run and play on her own, yet keeping a watchful gaze out for any hazards that may be in the area.

Just then, Rinoa tripped, seemingly over nothing.

She went down in slow motion –

Squall's eyes widened –

Her blue duster trailed up, as if blown by the wind –

Squall's entire body tensed without his realizing –

Rinoa hit the sand without a sound –

There _was _no sound –

Squall broke his leisurely pace in to a flat out run –

He sprinted over to her, his mind blank. He had pushed all but her from his reasoning. She was all that mattered, all else was void.

He rushed over, sprinting flat out, getting ever closer, until he himself had a similar accident.

Just as he was reaching her, Rinoa lifted her leg, placing it in his path, tripping him.

As Squall fell, he positioned his arms so that he would fall with his palms striking the ground.

As they struck, he bent his elbows to avoid harming the bones and joints in his arm, similar in concept to a parachute roll.

Of course, this in turn meant lowering his body until it was only just hovering above hers, almost touching. When Rinoa repositioned herself so that she lay on her back, their two bodies came into contact, causing Squall to blush ever so slightly.

Rinoa turned her head to the side and spat out mouthfuls of sand before wiping her mouth and turning back to stare up at the young man above her.

She beamed up at him, quite unable to do anything but smile.

"Clumsy," she teased, "So what perverted fantasies are running through _your_ mind," she asked, her face reddening slightly to match that of Squall's.

The brunet's lips curled slightly, before the recent week's buildup of exhaustion caught up with him.

His trembling leg went down, its master no longer able to force it to work.

Rinoa let out a small squeal of pain as Squall's knee violently struck the untoned softness of her thigh.

Squall forced himself to roll off to the side before he completely collapsed down on top of her.

"Sorry," he muttered, closing his eyes. He found himself unable to do anything but mumble.

"It's alright." It had hurt, but Rinoa knew that Squall would never have struck or hurt her on purpose. It must have been an accident. It had to have been.

"I'm just so tired lately. It's like when you overwork your muscles and then you can't do anything with them. You're arms and legs just tremble from the slightest amount of effort. It becomes impossible to do anything."

"Right," Rinoa replied, nodding her head in understanding, while simultaneously noting to herself that she had no idea what the brown haired young man beside her was talking about. Rinoa's policy in life was to make only a bare minimum of effort and do only what was absolutely necessary. She had no knowledge of muscle fatigue.

"Rinoa," Squall drawled.

"Yeah?"

"If you're gonna run on a beach, you may not want to wear boots."

"Oh, right," Rinoa laughed.

"Don't you have any sandals or anything?"

"No."

"I see… I'll have to get you some. For now, you may want to go in bare feet."

"What about my boots?"

"As long as you remember where you put them, they'll be fine. We don't get many footwear thieves around here."

"Not many, huh? That still leaves one."

"Fine," Squall sighed, "I've just promised to take you shoe shopping. If anything happens to your boots, we'll just add it to the list and I'll get you some more, okay? For now, I'll watch over them."

"Um, okay." Rinoa then proceeded to give Squall a show as she struggled to remove her boots, which very stubbornly wanted to remain on her feet. "I don't think they want to come off," Rinoa complained. "They don't want to leave." Just then, as if to spite her, her left boot came off with little to no effort. Right afterwards, so did the right. "If you say my feet stink, I'll kill you," she threatened the brunet after she had removed her boots, and socks too, placing them inside her boots to save them getting sandy. Of course Squall wouldn't have said anything like that, mainly because it simply wasn't true, even after wearing boots, but this was a perfect opportunity to tease the girl, just like old times.

"And how do you intend to kill me," Squall teased. "You could hardly manage to take those boots of yours off. If you can't handle a shoe, I don't think a real weapon would be advisable to you."

"Fine, I'll just have to shoe you to death," she said, picking up a boot for emphasis.

"Before you get carried away, maybe you should enjoy the beach before turning it into a bloodbath. If someone dies here, cops might shut it down and block it off. This shore is the only point of interest here."

"Oh, right, but you know, I like the harbor just as much as this place, so don't think you're safe just yet."

"You've been to the harbor already?" Squall felt surprise, but strangely, also disappointment.

"Yeah, it's so cozy and serene there. I really like it, except for that jerk who made me shove off so he could go fishing for flies."

"You mean fly fishing." _I really didn't think Rinoa would have been able to appreciate the tranquility of the harbor. I assumed she would find it boring. That's why I brought her here._

"Same story, different version." Squall smirked in amusement.

"Yeah, I'm sure that must be it." Rinoa stood and took a few steps before pausing, evidently waiting for Squall to get up with her. She looked back to him, and found to her disappointment that he had his eyes closed, laying back in the sun.

"Are you coming?"

"You go have fun. I'll be waiting here for you."

"That's no fun," Rinoa whined, but then her eyes widened and her lip pulled into a smirk. "Oh, I get it. You want me to go and splash around in the water for everyone to see just so you can lie back here and gawk at me with wet clothes."

"Oh no," Squall dryly replied, "My plan is ruined. Once again you have seen through my scheme and dashed it, once again proving that my superior intellect is no match for yours." As he said it, his face remained neutral and his eyes refused to open. He wouldn't even look at her.

"Humph," Rinoa said as she abandoned her lazy, useless boyfriend to the sun and went over to the water.

"Leave the duster here," Squall called out, "…so it doesn't get wet. You don't want something like that drenched in saltwater." Rinoa removed the thick blue fabric from her person and dumped it inelegantly on top of Squall as she stormed off, although considering the sand absorbed every one of her footsteps, and that Squall's eyes were closed, or covered in Rinoa's blue duster, her exit was not quite as dramatic as she had hoped it to be.

* * *

**There we go, it's finally done. Now, I've just uploaded a new story, a Naruto/Elfen Lied crossover. Next, I will start a further new story. I did have a plan, but inspiration has struck at an inconvenient time and I now have a few to choose from. I know that it looks like I'm creating countless new stories to avoid ending older ones, but that is not the case. While it is true that I am saddened by the prospect of stories coming to an end with no hope of continuation, I have no intentions of abandoning anything. Those of you who are waiting for the next chapter of Angel, I have it all written and it should be up within the week, so you can hopefully look forward to that.**

**Shameless Advertising Segment #1: **The first story you can pick from, is the first entry of a trilogy I've come to know as 'Sorry.' You may note that I've mentioned it a few times before. The next choice is an FFVIII AU story where SeeD is hired to protect Rinoa from someone who has murdered her parents. I know it's a bit of a cliché, but I like to take used ideas and add my own twist to them. The next option is an FFVII story focusing on Zack, following his career in SOLDIER. Although it was inspired by me playing Crisis Core last week, it will be slightly AU. (the mass desertion doesn't happen, and most of the story focuses on a rivalry with an OC I will come up with.) The next is a Gundam Seed historical story… by that, I mean it will be set in the past, although I'm thinking of mixing different periods, such as mixing the Fuedal era with Victorian England to create my own fictional time and technology level. While this may not constitute as historical, I can't really call it fantasy either, since at this point at least, it won't have the elements of fantasy such as monsters and magic. It will have swordplay however… eventually. I'll be doing it in two halves, and the first halve may not have a lot of action, so to speak, of, and if there are any shota fans out there, I'll be including a Gil/Rey pairing. My second favored shota pairing, although my first is technically au. For a hint of what it is, just mosey on over to my C2 and take a look at the pairings contained therein. Anyway, this story will be entitled 'nowhere' and is partially inspired by a story entitled 'A Maid's Tale.' I'm not trying to steal people's ideas or anything, I just came up with it after having read that. The next story is a new one that came to me from a dream a few days ago. It's a Gundam Seed story in which a twenty or so year old Kira seems to be investigating what might be a student's death when he meets Lacus, who is kept under house arrest by her overbearing parent/guardian. Kira more or less breaks her out and they then set out to find her mother, whom Lacus is convinced is alive and well, out there somewhere. I had a title, but I may have lost it. I'll check on the bulleted list I made. There may have been one or two more stories, but I can't remember them right now. If you'd like more information on any of these, or if you have a preference, feel free to let me know. I'd love to hear your opinion, but please refrain from saying "I think you should work on what you've got now." While I'm sure such sentiments are sincere, I do have a plan, and rest assured, nothing will be neglected.

**Shameless Advertising Segment #2: **If any of you read chapter two of **Scary Clowns**, you may have noted the author's notes where I mentioned a short story competition. Maybe none of you are particularly interested, but I did enter that competition. I had a problem. I didn't know which category to enter, but fortunately, I read the rules and discovered that while only one entry may be made per person per category, nothing is stopping an entrant from entering every category, so long as they did not win saidr category the year before, and so long as they meet the requirements, for example, the young writer category may only be entered by those attending secondary school. The downside to this, I only had the time and inspiration for a single entry, and this grew too long to be entered in the armature writer's category like I was planning (which is for people who have never had their writing published or broadcast,) so I had to enter it in the main award category, meaning I could be up against seasoned writers competing for a much grander prize … oh dear. Actually, my entry was reaching the 4900 word mark, and the absolute limit for even that category was 5000. I think I may have been lucky just to keep in within the word limit… anyway, winners will be contacted in November. Losers won't, apparently. Maybe I'll strike lucky and there'll be something in my inbox in a few months' time. I'll let you know when I find out, and if I don't… well, I think you can probably guess what that would mean.


	12. Chapter 12

**The Slacker**

**Author's Notes: **I would've had this done sooner, but I found an idea for a short story competition I was interested in entering.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VIII`

**The Swimsuit**

"Squall, Squall! Squall?" The brunet stirred slightly before giving into fatigue once more. The sand, the sun, the breeze. It was all so cozy, so comfortable. And Squall was so tired. So depredated, so fatigued, so utterly consumed. "Come on," the voice desperately called out to him. "Don't leave me here alone, wake up. Wake up, Squall!"

The darkness consumed all, even that oh-so familiar voice struggled to break through. He did know that voice, didn't he? Who was it, whose was it? He knew it belonged to someone, and that someone had just placed a wet hand against Squall's chest. Who was she?

Yes, it was a she, that voice was most certainly feminine, but to whom did it belong, and what did it want?

_Why are you bothering me? Leave me alone._

"Humph, some date this is turning out to be," the voice criticized.

_Date? Is that what she said? Where Am I? Who is this?_

"Falling asleep on me? Gee, how _romantic _of you," the voice dryly stated, forcing its levels of sarcasm into the extremes.

Squall forced his eyes open, fighting against fatigue as he lay in the sun.

"There you are," Rinoa jested as though the brunet below her had actually been lost.

"Rinoa?"

"You were asleep," the girl confirmed.

"How long was I out?"

"About twenty minutes or so."

"Is that so… were you here the whole time?"

"No, don't you remember? You were lying here, and I headed toward the water. It was refreshing and everything, but now I'm all wet." She lay down, resting her head upon him. "So, did you have a nice dream?"

"Huh, dream?"

"Yeah," the girl replied, closing her eyes against the sun. "I think I heard you talking in your sleep."

"Did you?"

"You wanna know what you said? I'm not telling."

"Oh no, I think the unadulterated mystery will be too much for me."

"Well? Do you remember what you were dreaming about?"

"Wasn't it you who said that dreams were supposed to be kept private?"

"Those are _girl's_ dreams. This is different."

"How is it different? You're just being nosy, right?"

"Maybe," the girl teased, "but you'd still better humor me. That's the only way I can forgive you for falling asleep on me."

"Right, sorry about that." Squall didn't actually know a lot about romance and dating, but he did know that falling asleep wasn't the best move one could make.

"No, I'm just joking. I don't really mind. It was nice, actually."

"What was?"

"Lying here with you."

"You were lying here?"

"Yeah, for a while. I needed to dry off in the sun a bit."

"Well… if it was so nice, then why did you feel the necessity to wake me?"

"I was bored," the girl sheepishly answered. "And…" unseen by Squall, Rinoa blushed, "I think I need to get out of these wet clothes."

"You wanna go home already?"

"No, but… I don't want to get sick from being in drenched clothes all day."

"Is that even possible?"

"Sure it is, you know that."

"Did you bring a swimsuit or anything?"

"No, I didn't think of it."

"Okay."

"I've got one, but it's at home."

"We'll go back and get it."

"No, I mean home… in Galbadia."

"You didn't bring it with you?"

"No, I didn't think I'd need it, like I just said." Squall sighed.

"Okay, it looks as though I'll have to buy you one. You'd better put your duster back on for now. It's not the same as taking the wet fabric off your skin, but covering up is the next best thing. Try to stay warm." Rinoa agreed. "Where is it, anyway?"

"Lift your head up."

_What? _Then he noticed it, folded up and placed under his head. Apparently, Rinoa had decided to let Squall use her excess clothing as a pillow. He didn't really see the purpose in such a thing, but it was still a nice gesture. "I hope you realize that now it's gonna be all sandy."

"That's alright. You looked like you needed a pillow, and besides, I didn't like it covering you up like that."

"What do you mean," Squall asked, handing the coat over.

"Well, it looked like I was lying on a big blue lumpy beach towel."

"Wow, thanks, but now it's covered in sand. Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? Especially considering your clothes are drenched in saltwater. Adding sand to the mix will just make things messy."

"What's the fun in life if we can't get messy once in a while," Rinoa grinned, fixing the blue coat to her person and taking Squall's hand as they walked back to the car. Then, after a peaceful yet uneventful car ride to a clothing store, they exited the vehicle and Squall once again led the way on foot.

"Um, are you sure this is the right place, she asked."

"Why, do you think you're a navigation specialist now," Squall dryly quipped. "Didn't you lose your map and wander aimlessly around the town for hours?"

"Hey, give me a break would you," Rinoa playfully argued. "It was my first time here."

"And that makes it better, does it? Balamb is a pretty small town. Anyone who takes a walk or ride around the streets can map it up inside their head after a short while. You on the other hand, found yourself completely and utterly lost.

"Hey, I found it eventually."

"Not on your own."

"Sure, Angelo was there but…"

"That's not what I mean."

"Then what?"

"From what Zell told me, if you hadn't stopped and asked him for directions, you would have simply moved on, completely passing the house you needed. Could you not even remember my address?"

"I had it written on the map," Rinoa clarified. _Zell, why'd you have to go and tell him that for?_

"I see. So you're the navigation expert who lost her map."

"Hey, shut up!" the girl cried, drawing attention from several onlookers. "What's with them," she enquired.

"This is a nice quiet town," Squall replied, quoting Mister Kramer. "You are a disturbance to the peace.

"Oh, right. He doesn't want me here doing anything… um, unsavory, right?"

"Right."

"I guess it's a good thing we didn't tell him about our sleeping arrangements then."

"Yeah… he thinks you sleep on the floor."

"So I'm on your floor, huh? Like a dog? Why not let me onto the foot of your bed?"

"If you'll recall, I do better than that," Squall tediously replied to Rinoa's grinning face. "Head inside. I'll wait out here for you."

"But… shouldn't we go to a sports shop or something?"

"You have to remember, Rinoa. You're not in Deling anymore. Balamb doesn't have any sports gear and supply shops."

"No way…"

"It's true. This is a clothing store. It sells summer wear, so they should stock swimwear too."

"Okay… but a sports' shop would have better quality merchandise."

"True, but it would also be a lot more expensive."

"Aw, don't you think I'm worth it, Squall," Rinoa teased, adding feign hurt to her voice.

"That's irrelevant. We don't have that option, anyway. Just go in and pick something out. When you find it, come out and tell me."

"You're not coming in?"

"No, I have something to do first. It won't take long."

"Okay… but you'd better not be trying to ditch me in there." Squall smiled.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he replied, walking off. Rinoa couldn't tell whether that was planned to make his exit more dramatic, or if it were simply a case of fortunate coincidence on his part.

Rinoa shrugged it off and stepped into the shop, instantly arousing the attention of the shopkeeper within.

"Oh my, you are so wet. Please do leave my shop."

"Excuse me?" Being ushered out at her moment of entry was not Rinoa's idea of hospitality. "You can't get many customers if this is how you act," she commented.

"But you are all wet. I do not serve wet people." Rinoa's lip pulled into a smirk at the joke only she understood.

"So you don't serve wet people, huh?"

"No, now please do leave. You are tracking water and sand onto my carpet. My goodness child, you are not even wearing shoes. Get out of here, I am not running a soup kitchen!"

"Hey, I'm not homeless!"

"Then what are you? Do you own your own home?"

"No… but I'm staying with someone. I've moved in!"

"And do you contribute? Do you work? Do you pay rent?"

"Well, no. Not exactly, but-"

"Then you are a leach, which is just as bad as being homeless. You have gone from leaching off of your parents to your friends. And soon, the government."

"No, I'm not. You don't know me at all!"

"Humph," the serving woman snorted, "I know your kind."

"If I get much more of this treatment, I may just take my business somewhere else."

"Good, good. Go, go, go. Leave, leave."

"Um… are you broken or something?"

"Out, out, out."

_Great,_ Rinoa inwardly grumbled, _I broke the shop lady._ "Hey, listen…"

"No, you leave now. Go. Out, out, out."

"But-"

"Out, out, out."

"I can pay," she lured.

"Out, out, o-out?"

"I have money," the girl said in a small, high-pitched tone, as though trying to coax a small animal out of its hiding place.

"Money? You pay? You can pay? Fran!" she called out, waiting impatiently for a young girl Rinoa's age to come out from the back. "Help this girl spend… I mean _purchase_ everything that she wants. She has money. She can pay."

_This woman sure is strange,_ Rinoa thought to herself, smirking slightly at what Squall had told her earlier. _So this place isn't Deling, huh? You mention money and their cold shoulders suddenly swarm all over you. Their greed seems pretty Galbadian to me._

Fran was a girl not unlike the slacker herself in appearance. She was slim, ghostly pale and had strait black hair down to her mid back, although her bangs were longer, hanging down the left side of her face, and she had pink highlights, as opposed to the caramel ones of Rinoa's.

"Wow, it's like looking at a scary version of me," Rinoa noted. "Um, hi. I'm Rinoa," She said, extending her hand to the girl in greeting. The other girl looked to the slacker's hand, then back up to her face.

"Greetings," she drawled in a monotonous voice that made Squall seem exciting. "I am Fran. Please come with me." She led the slacker, all the while making sure to neglect her outstretched hand

"Ah… oka-ay, sure."

"What is it that you need?"

"Oh, well, I want a swimsuit."

"Why?" Again with that drawl. Did this girl hate her job that much? Rinoa flung out her arms and gave the serving girl a twirl, showing off her clothes in all their dirty wetness.

"Surely you can see my problem."

"It seems as though you have already been swimming. What you require is a new set of summer wear."

"Oh no you don't, I'm on to you," Rinoa replied, holding up two fingers and pointing them at her own eyes, before changing the point of their focus to those of the other girl, making an 'I'm watching you' gesture.

"I don't know what you mean. I am only trying to help."

"Look, all I want is swimwear. Something that looks good on me… something blue." Fran suddenly began to circle the girl, taking in her form.

"Would you mind undressing for me?"

"What! Who do you think I am? I'm not getting naked in front of you and the entire store!"

"Please miss, you are making a scene. If you would kindly step into the changing room?"

"Oh, that is it. I'm reporting you for sexual harassment… uh, what was your name, again?"

"Do not misunderstand, miss. You are not my type. While I'm sure you think you are very attractive, I prefer someone more intellectual, and for future reference, accusing someone falsely of sexual harassment is not the best way to ask someone out on a date. You should be more honest. Such levels of teasing rarely work in real life, regardless of what you see in movies."

"What's that supposed to… hey, wait... you think… No, I'm not… I have a _boyfriend!_"

"Lying will do you no good, miss. You should simply be honest with yourself."

"I _am_ being honest. He's outside, _waiting for me!"_

"Then why did he not accompany you in?" For this, Rinoa had no answer.

"Please do follow me into the changing room." Rinoa looked around to see a man looking inquisitively at her with a raised eyebrow."

"Don't listen to her, I _have _a boyfriend," the girl insisted. "He's waiting outside for me." The man merely smirked and looked away, skeptically shaking his head.

Grumbling, Rinoa followed the girl into the changing room, where they were alone.

Fran closed the curtain behind them and continued to Size her customer up. She walked closer, so close they were touching, so close that each could feel the pattern of the other's breathing, that they could smell the other's breath, taste it even. Rinoa blushed at their proximity.

Fran refused to stop there, however. She pressed forward, literally. Her arms drifted up, hands trailing along Rinoa's body, feeling her shape through the wet sandy clothes of which she wore.

Her hands went down to her waist, slipped themselves beneath Rinoa's shirt, and then trailed upward, pointed fingernails scratching their way up the girl's trunk. Rinoa closed her eyes. Although it wasn't an entirely unpleasant feeling, she wouldn't allow herself to enjoy this. It was too embarrassing. _At least we're behind the curtain,_ Rinoa mused, thankful that no one could see them, glad that Squall couldn't see this, or anyone else she knew for that matter. Quistis would never let her live this down if she ever found out, and neither would Zell, probably.

Fran's hands and fingers draped their way upward, cupping the girl's modest breast through her bra.

"Uh," Rinoa complained at the contact, unable to manage complete words at this point in time. The other girl brought herself flush against Rinoa. Arms freed themselves of fabric, thankfully, but they had now wrapped themselves around the back of a blue duster, holding Rinoa firm and tight to her.

The slacker wriggled and squirmed in the grip, finding herself unable to move or escape. She looked to Fran's hazel eyes. Her own widened when she found them enveloping her. She tried to jump back, but found herself unable to.

Fran held the girl tighter and brought herself even closer, if that were possible. She pressed her face into that of the other girl's, tilting slightly. Their lips brushed, Rinoa was frozen. She didn't know what to do. She doubted as to whether she'd be able to do a single thing, even if her mind _were_ working.

Then, Fran uttered something barely comprehensible. "I have… just the thing." She released the blushing girl and backed out of the small cubicle.

When she returned, she had with her a small blue two-piece swimsuit.

"Uh, are you sure about that one?"

"It will fit you perfectly. You said you wanted something that looks good on you, did you not?"

"Yes…"

"I believe that this will look good on you. Try it on."

"Isn't that against store policy?"

"Not if you're one hundred percent sure that you will be purchasing said swimwear."

"I see… can I maybe, um… get a little privacy?"

"Of course… you should wear your duster with it until you get to the water. The colors match."

"Uh… thanks." Fran once more backed out of the cubicle and Rinoa checked the curtain to make sure it was peeper free before shedding her drenched clothes and undergarments. "I wish I could bathe first… that would feel so nice right about now."

X

**Remember that awkward moment between Squall and Selphie? Well, yeah. I randomly decided to give Rinoa her turn. Have anything to say about it? I'd love to hear from you.**

**On another note, I need help deciding on an OC's name. This is for the person that Kane was talking to on the phone at the end of... act 21, I think it was, of my story Angel of Decadence. I have a poll on my profile, but you can also pm me for an answer or to ask a little about her. Do me a favor if you may, and at least take a look, I think the list of possible names will give you at least a stereotypical description of the kind of person I have in mind. I thank you all in advance and will greatly appreciate anyone who votes. She will be Selphie's sister, as well as being Kane's partner, in the romantic sense of the word, as well as in crime.  
**


	13. Chapter 13

**The Slacker**

**Author's Notes: It would seem that my ranting and complaining of Halloween was unneeded. As for the why? My house went unbothered. I guess my incredibly scary dog must have frightened all the wretched children away… and if the irony is misplaced on you, don't worry. It's just because you've never seen my dog. You know those small, short people who think they are tough and try to pick fights with everyone? Yeah, that would be him. Come to think of it, he's kind of like a champagne colored wooly sheep crossed with Scrappy Doo. Well, it's now the fifth of November, and you all know what that means, Guy Fawkes day! Or, as the calendar seems to call it, Bonfire Night. Apparently, nobody cares anymore about the reason for this holiday. They just want to watch Chinese Explosions in the sky. They don't even care about the Guy named Guy who tried to blow up Parliament… I don't know. Tsk, this young generation, you've got not idea.**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VIII

**The Shop Security**

**

* * *

Taking a cautious step, Rinoa looked left and right, as though she were a rebellious child sneaking out of summer camp. Her head poked out from the changing room. Given her current attire, she felt just a little self-conscious.**

She was clothed only in a two-piece sky-blue bikini, and a quite a revealing one at that. Her body still slightly glistening wet with seawater, the sodium-enriched solution cascading off her in droplets. Standing with her clothes tightly bundled under her right arm, she remembered what that… _affectionate _serving girl had suggested, and put down her clothes as she affixed her blue duster once more upon her shoulders.

Bending down to once again pick up her clothes, Rinoa went back to watching the semi-empty store. If she were to leave without causing a scene and gathering too much attention for herself, now would be as good a chance as any.

The store was mostly empty. There were one or two employees and very few customers. There was that man, the one who had looked at her sideways because of Fran's accusations, and there were a few others, but nobody happened to be looking in Rinoa's direction, at least, not as far as she could tell.

Okay, now was the time to move. All eyes were off her, no more embarrassing situations would thrust themselves upon _this _eighteen year old girl. Not today, anyway. It was a simple move, she just had to make it to the door and walk out, where Squall was waiting for her. It was a solid plan, after all.

Rinoa held her clothes in a tight bundle under her arm, tightening her hold on them, protecting them as a mother bird would protect her eggs, or… a bundle of someone's clothes under her wing… why a bird would be In possession of someone's clothes was another story altogether, but that wasn't important.

Rinoa made up her mind and made her move. She would not keep Squall waiting anymore today while she pondered the possibilities of mother birds guarding her clothes. They only had until the end of the day until Squall would slip back into _workaholic mode._

Her long legs strode across the carpeted ground as she crossed the center of the shop, as explorers had traversed previously unchartered areas of sea centuries before her.

Each step brought her closer to the outside world and closer to Squall. Rinoa couldn't help but wonder what he would think of her choice.

– Wait, was it her choice?

Sure, it was true that that girl had picked the outfit out for her, but was it not also true that Rinoa had accepted the outfit? She had even tried it on, and such garments as the one she now happened to be wearing were not to be tried on simply for the sake of it. They were not to be worn by anyone, not even a potential customer, unless the probability of purchase was no less than one hundred percent.

Looking at it from that perspective, simply trying the swimsuit on was like making a big commitment, wasn't it?

"Excuse me, miss."

Oh, what was it now? Rinoa turned around and gulped as she was met with an extremely large someone.

The man was dressed in the uniform of a security guard, and even carried a truncheon. Was that not a little excessive? Why would he need a weapon to keep the peace in a quiet little clothing shop in a quiet little harbor town like Balamb? It made no sense, no sense at all.

"Um…" Rinoa felt that she should say something… but that intense stare of his, it was so familiar. This guard could rival Squall on a bad day, if his mad, accusatory gaze was anything to go by.

The girls lip twitched and pulled at the thought, threatening to break into an amused smile, and Rinoa fought a losing battle as she struggled to keep a straight face, quite the unfortunate circumstance, as any could imagine.

"Does something amuse you miss?"

Oh crap, the security guard was getting pissed, Rinoa could tell.

"Oh, no," the raven haired slacker assured, "you just remind me of someone, that's all."

"I see… Miss, I don't believe you wore that coming in."

"Wore what?"

"That swimsuit. Is that not inventory of the store?"

"Oh, yeah. It is."

"Then you should not be wearing it. Take it off right now." Rinoa narrowed her eyes. She was beginning to really despise this shop.

"God, what is it with you people? I am not here for your entertainment!" Right now, she didn't care that she was making a scene. This guy deserved to be the center of attention for barking an order like that to her. This wasn't some sleazy downtown Deling City nightclub. "I am _not_ stripping in front of everyone here!"

Quizzically, the security gave an exasperated sigh. "Obviously," he said, speaking in a tired voice filled with exhaustion, "I intend for you to go into a changing room. That swimsuit is property of this store. Therefore, you should not be wearing it."

"But… the serving girl, she told me to because my other clothes are wet anyway!" Rinoa felt a little nervous at the whole situation. She didn't even know these people… or maybe that was actually better. That way, she was just a stranger to them. Better to be embarrassed by complete strangers than in front of people she'd have to face on a daily basis, right?

"Well, she had no right to suggest such action."

"What's the big deal," Rinoa asked, "I'm going to buy it anyway."

"In that case, I do believe you are heading out the wrong way."

"What are you talking about?"

"You are currently facing the door, are you not? The checkout is in the other direction. If you plan to purchase that legally, may I suggest you drop by?" At that point, Rinoa's patience had run out. She flung out her arms. Or, at least the one currently unoccupied with the menial task of holding on to her clothes.

"Look at me!" she demanded, to which the guard felt obliged. "I said look, not ogle. Do you see a wallet on me?"

"Are you sure you want to play this game?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I find it hard to believe that you would come in here without money, unless it was your intent to steal."

"No, someone is waiting for me outside. _He _has money. He will pay for me."

"Again, I find this difficult to believe. If this were so, why would this mysterious payer of yours not come into the shop with you, or give you the money?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask him?"

"I'm afraid I cannot believe you, and unless you can produce some amount of money, I am forced to come to the only logical conclusion, that you are a shoplifter."

"But I'm not! You have to believe me!"

"I'm afraid that I do not, and unfortunately for you, in cases like this, I am obligated to search you."

"What!"

"And if I find nothing of monetary value amongst your possessions, considering your attire, a frisk will ensue, followed by a strip search."

"You have _got _to be kidding me. Where is it, huh? Where's the camera? I'm on a reality show right now, right? 'The World's Most Obtuse Security' or something?"

"Pending that, if I find nothing, there will be one final step I must take." Rinoa could barely swallow at that. She looked up to meekly meet the man's eye. "If I still find nothing, I must take it one step further."

"What do you… wait, you can't mean…?"

"I'm afraid so."

"But… Why would I hide money there!"

"Would you like to confess, or should we begin?"

This wasn't fair, Rinoa had done nothing wrong. Why should she be subjected to this, this... this _embarrassment!_ She hung her head, seemingly defeated.

"Can't you just take my word for it?" she uttered, full well knowing the man's answer.

"I can… give you the benefit of the doubt." Rinoa's eyes glistened with hope.

"Really?"

"I will accompany you outside, if only to prove your guilt. If this person of yours is indeed out there and can offer you an alibi, he can pay for your purchase and I'll let you go. If not, you're coming with me to the security room."

Rinoa swallowed hard. She seriously didn't like the sound of that… but she agreed. It was her only choice, after all. "Okay." Her voice seemed broken, barely able to sound. She nodded her head, and the guard dug his sharp, pointed fingers into her arm, dragging her along with him, keeping her close as though she were his prisoner, lest she get away from him and escape.

This guy took his job _way _too seriously, but Rinoa suspected that he had more than mere justice on his filthy, rusted mind.

He pulled the girl with him through the exit of the shop and onto an empty street.

– An empty street.

– Nobody was here.

– Where… where the heck was Squall?

"Well, I don't see anyone," the guard needlessly pointed out."

"You don't say," Rinoa quipped back.

"It would appear, as expected, that you were lying." Rinoa sighed in exasperation.

"Would you give it a rest already?"

"There is no need for that attitude. You were simply caught up in a lie. It was a commendable attempt, I must admit. Had I been a pre-schooler, I might have fallen for it." Rinoa narrowed her eyes in contempt at the man's words. It was embarrassing enough that Squall was not here to prove her right and, for lack of a better word, _save _her. He didn't have to rub it in. "Alright, We have wasted enough time. Come with me now."

"No, wait," the girl pleaded. "Just a bit longer, he could still show up. He's on his way, I'm sure of it."

"Young lady, I am afraid I'm in no mood to humor you, and I have no desire to see you approach complete strangers with the hope of them bailing you out."

"But I'm telling the truth!"

"Then I'm very worry, but perhaps today is simply not your day for telling the truth. Now, would you like to confess, or should we begin? Either way, you will accompany me into my office." Searching around frantically for an escape, the girl saw naught.

There was nothing, no one. Where was Squall, why wasn't he here when she needed him? Why couldn't he have simply gone in with her, and then dragged her along to his errand later. That would have worked perfectly!

Curse Squall and his time-keeping skills. They're more trouble than they're worth… Or was that just an excuse? Maybe Squall simply didn't want to step foot inside a clothing store with a girl, or worse, maybe he didn't want her around for whatever he was doing. Was he ashamed of her?

No, that couldn't be it. That was impossible.

"Young lady, I am waiting." Seeing no possible way out, Rinoa closed her eyes and dropped her head as if in shame or defeat. Conceding, she sighed.

"Okay… I confess." It was a lie, but that didn't matter. She'd be charged with shoplifting, but this weirdo didn't care. He wasn't looking for inventory, he was looking for money. If his intent was to search her and then charge her anyway, why should she let him have his fun? If she was going to be charged either way, why should she have to go through the humiliation of a search on top of it?

"Very well." Rinoa could hardly believe it. The pervert even had the nerve to sound disappointed. "Come with me." His hand was once more tightly gripping the girl's arm as he dragged her along.

As Squall appeared from around the corner, he arched an eyebrow at what he saw. Needless to say, it was quite unexpected. He was sure that was Rinoa, and the blue duster more or less proved it. It was hard to imagine another girl being so uncanny in resemblance to his lazy, carefree girlfriend.

She appeared to be with someone… a very large someone. Not only tall, but also wide. This very tall, very wide, very bald, very male someone held Rinoa by the arm. He appeared to be leading her somewhere, or was he simply walking with her?

Did she get lost, or… what was going on?

Then it registered.

That was a security uniform.

That large man, he was security… a security officer. What did he want with Rinoa?

What was going on?

"Rinoa?" he called out, increasing his pace to catch up.

The security officer seemed determined to get the girl to wherever he was taking her, but Rinoa turned her head towards the familiar call.

At the sight of Squall, she instantly began struggling against the large man.

"Hey, it's him, look! He's here, just like I said he would be!"

"Excuse me," Squall called out to the man, finally reaching him. "What seems to be the problem here?" The man turned to face Squall.

"So you're the one she was talking about?"

"…I don't understand."

"She said there would be someone waiting outside for her. Are you that person?"

"Yes."

"In that case… your girlfriend here was caught shoplifting." Squall took a long moment to digest the accusation, before dropping his head and letting out a sigh, of disappointment, perhaps.

"All of this is my fault," he finally said.

"Look, see!" Rinoa claimed, still trying in vain to fight against the large man's grip. "Squall is here, my story checks out. Can I go now?"

"I'm afraid not."

"What's the problem," Squall asked. "Can I not simply pay for her and let you get on with your job?"

"I'm afraid not, you see, the girl here has already confessed. Therefore, she is guilty."

"You confessed?" Squall asked the raven haired girl. He was quite perplexed. What would compel her to do such a thing? What was she thinking, exactly? Where was she going with this?"

"I had no choice," Rinoa clarified in a hurried tone. "He was gonna search me, what else could I do?"

"Search you? For what?"

"For the money to pay for this swimsuit."

"That… doesn't make any sense at all."

"I know, but he said he was going to strip search me, and then if he didn't find what he wanted, he was going to go further." Once again, Squall thought for a minute. She couldn't be referring to the conclusion of which the brunet's mind had instantly jumped, could she? There had to be some kind of misunderstanding.

"You can't mean a cavity search?"

"Yeah, that's what he was gonna do." Squall angrily narrowed his eyes. He looked to the man. To use such despicable tactics on someone like Rinoa, of course they would be believed, of course they would be taken to heart, of course Rinoa would panic and do as he said in order to avoid such treatment. This man, this guard, his actions were utterly appalling. How could he do something like that, especially to someone as open and free-spirited as the raven haired slacker? Keeping his calm, Squall spoke.

"Tell me truthfully, you weren't really planning on doing that, were you?" While phrased as a question, Squall spoke it as a statement.

"What, you mean he was bluffing?" Rinoa exclaimed, embarrassed that she had fallen for such a shameful trick.

"Of course he was," Squall replied.

"Oh man, I can't believe I fell for it."

"Actually, I wasn't bluffing," the officer replied, causing the two adolescents to freeze. Two sets of eyes turned to face the man as their owners stared wide-eyed at the perverted abomination before them. One, the potential victim in all of this, filled with a morbidly horrific dread; the other, indignant disgust.

"You sick…" Rinoa began, her accusation fizzling out and trailing off almost as immediately as it had begun.

"Really…" Squall added, outstretching his arm, his hand raised as a gesture to silence the raven haired slacker. He spoke, as always, in his calm, monotonous drawl. How could he be so calm at a time like this? Did he not care that his incredibly attractive girlfriend was almost molested? Just what was going on inside the brunet's mind? "It's such a shame that you admitted something like that. With two witnesses, we could report you for sexual harassment." Rinoa smirked. Squall had come through for her once again. She should never have doubted him.

"I see no witnesses, and with your word against mine, who do you think the powers at be are going to believe?"

"It doesn't matter. The investigation alone will create a black mark on your record, not to mention causing embarrassment and inconvenience to the store at which you work. I really don't think your employer will appreciate you for that. Of course, we could just forget all about this little misunderstanding. I'll pay for the swimsuit, you can get back to your job, and we'll be on our merry way."

"You blackmailing me boy?"

"Not at all, I just want to leave. I'm running on a schedule. I'm sure you can understand." The officer narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, calculating the offer. He really couldn't afford something like this weighing against him, no matter how slim the brat's chances. As much as he loathed seeing these kids get away, it would not be prudent to allow things to continue.

"Fine, I don't have time for this nonsense. Take your girlfriend and get out of here, and I'd better not see either of you around here again, got it?"

"Of course," Squall politely replied, taking Rinoa by the arm and leading her carefully away from the clothing store.

"Wow Squall, you did it," Rinoa thanked him as they made their way towards the car. You really saved me back there, thanks."

"Only you…" the brunet muttered.

"Huh?"

"Of all people, only you could manage to get yourself into such a predicament."

"Hey, this was all your fault, remember Squall!" the slacker protested. "If you had simply gone into the shop with me, none of this would have even happened."

"Yeah… maybe. I'm… sorry about that. I had a few errands to run and… well, they took longer than I thought they would. I'm sorry I was delayed."

"Don't worry about it. It all worked out in the end."

"Yeah… but now we can't shop there anymore."

"So what?" Rinoa argued. "Trust me Squall, you don't want to go back there anyway. That's gotta be the worst clothing shop I've ever been to."

"Well I'm sorry if Balamb doesn't carry all of Galbadia's latest fashion designs and clothing labels."

"No, it's not that. I mean… that's the worst service I've ever seen. I'm surprised they get any customers at all, acting that way."

"In what way is that?"

"Uh… never mind. Can't we just forget it ever happened and get back to the beach?"

"You're the boss," Squall replied indifferently.

"Really?" Rinoa asked, a grin returning to her lips.

"Of course, this is your date, right?"

"I like the sound of that," Rinoa replied, smiling contently and taking the brunet's arm as they walked back to the car.

* * *

**Well, there it is. It may take me a while to update either this or Angel again… what am I saying, I don't think, I **_**know**_**, which is a shame, but never mind. I hope to write a oneshot now. Hopefully, it should be up in time for the American's Thanksgiving Day, here's hoping I can get it done in time. It'll be a KOTOR story, and I'm warning you, it'll probably be quite dark indeed. It's going to be a rapefic. The pairing will be DSM Revan/Mission. For those of you whom don't know who Mission is, she's a fourteen year old blue twi'lek. (Just Google Mission Vao to see what she looks like, or if you should want to know a bit about her, of course, if you've played the game, at least up to the end of Taris, you'll know who I'm talking about anyway.) This will be somewhat of a landmark for me. Not only will it be my first real Lemon, it will be my first **_**successful**_** rape sequence. They usually get interrupted, like in **_**Disturbance in the Peaceful Era**_** and **_**Angel of Decadence. Well, there's something for you to look forward to, or possibly dread. Raped on Thanksgiving… now that's a thought. Perhaps I could use that as the basis of an original story. Maybe I should enter it in a short story competition next yeah, that kind of plot is sure to win, just like when I did that essay in English about that story where the racist cop gave the drunk boy a cavity search, and the boy, not knowing what was going on, thought he was being raped. I focused mainly on that aspect and… wait, didn't the examiner fail me for that?**_


	14. Chapter 14

**The Slacker**

**Author's Notes: **I'm sorry this took so ling. This chapter has been ready to upload for over a week now, but my ISP has been a major prick lately. every time I tried to post it, I've had trouble getting internet access. Connectivity has been fleeting. On and off. Not on a regular, predictable schedule, either. Maintenence on the ISP's server was apparantly being carried out, but it was suppsoed to be finished by the eiteenth. It is now the twenty first and it's still ongoing. Hopefully, things will get back to normal soon. I prey that the convenience of internet access whenever I need it is simply not too much to ask.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VIII

**The Date's End**

For the second time that day, two teens stepped onto the sand of the Rinaul coast. This time however, outer layers had been shed, though Squall had not done away with his black leather bomber jacket. Rinoa, who walked beside him, had allowed her clothes to rest in the car, covering herself only with the two-piece swimsuit, a fact that elicited stares from the post-pubescent eyes from all around.

"Um, Squall, everyone's looking at me."

"I've noticed," Squall unhelpfully commented.

"Well… do something."

"What am I supposed to do about it?"

"I dunno… why do they have to stare, anyway?"

"What do you expect? You're the one wearing something like that," the brunet retorted, somewhat lifelessly.

"So… they don't have to stare… and what's wrong with this anyway? The girl at the shop said it would look good on me."

"Perhaps she did… but then again…"

"What?"

"Never mind," Squall evaded. He knew what not to say."

"No, if you've got something to say, just say it."

"You'll only get mad."

"I'll get mad if you don't tell me." Squall sighed.

"Fine, I'll tell you. Did you consider that… perhaps she was just trying to make a sale?"

"What the heck is that supposed to mean, huh?"

"She was a salesgirl, and you were her customer. To her, you're nothing but money. When she looked upon you, all that she saw were big silver 'G's."

"Somehow, I doubt that," Rinoa argued, remembering how that girl had acted towards her.

"Remember Rinoa, your relationship with these people is like their relationship with any tourist."

"But… I'm not a tourist."

"And yet… you're acting as one on vacation. You're Gil to them, Rinoa. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Gee, I feel so special."

"Don't take it personally, but do keep it in mind."

"So what, your saying that When anyone is being friendly with me, that they're being completely insincere? Then what about you, Zell, and Quistis?"

"We don't count. Since you don't really contribute around the house, you give us nothing but your personality."

"Wow…" Rinoa dejectedly replied. "That kinda makes me sorry that I even came here."

"Don't get me wrong, Rinoa. It's not that I want you gone. I… I like you being here. That's my point. We like you for you, and that's all you give us… You give us yourself."

"Uh… I think I heard a compliment somewhere in there."

"Um… congratulations?" Looking around, Rinoa noticed that people were no longer staring at her.

"Well, I guess the show's over then."

"Oh dear… looks like you're not the center of attention anymore."

"Well, I'm glad. I've had enough of that for one day."

"Is that so… so what do you want to do?"

"Do?"

"Yeah. We don't have to be back until after sunset. Is there anything you want to do, or would you rather just get back?"

"Well… maybe we could… I dunno."

"Let me know when you make up your mind."

"Why do I have to decide?"

"You want me to think of something?"

"Maybe."

"Then…" Squall paused thoughtfully, pondering anything and everything that they could do, considering every possible option. "Would you want to maybe… I dunno, go for a walk?"

"Sounds good," the slacker replied with an easy-going smile. It was a pleasant end to a long day.

* * *

The walk itself was a most pleasant one. A calm, quiet, relaxing stroll across the relatively empty shore. Squall for one, preferred it when people were not around. During the weekends and holidays of the summer, this beach was filled with families and children. One would be hard-pressed to find a peaceful moment of such tranquility as presently held. Usually, the shore would be a bustle of noise as children rowdily ran and played in the sand and the water, their hyperactive states fueled by sugar. It was for this very reason that Squall loathed to frequent such a place. Even when free from children, countless sun kissed, short-haired adults lined up to take their place, to spend their days off sunbathing, swimming, surfing, or otherwise entertaining themselves on the sand or in the water.

Now though, at this time, with Rinoa and nobody else, perhaps such an appeal for this place did exist, even to someone like Squall who was not exactly the beach party type.

Not being a fan of surfers or suntans, Squall had never particularly enjoyed his occasional visits to Rinaul coast, few and far between as they were. For Rinoa however, he was willing to endure such a place for a day. Perhaps it would remind her of their time together the previous summer, at the world-famous Lappin Beach. They had been staying with his family at a Hotel in Dollet.

Dollet itself was a tourist trap. Everybody wanted to go there just once, and the businesses present there couldn't have been happier with the way things were. They of course wouldn't want things to change. They continued, summer after summer, to cash in on both the sun and the moon. When those two things combined, it was a surf-club owner's dream. And nothing, save the annual roll around of autumn, could stop them. They would continue, year after year, to accumulate their vast fortune by exploiting the beauty of nature, just as the Trabian government would, even as the country up north proceeded to rape and sell-out that very beauty in order to do so, regardless of the Shumi's protests, but the state of the world was irrelevant to Squall's current situation.

Here he was, alone with her, Rinoa. For the first time since Dollet. Turning his head to steal a glance at the slacker, he couldn't help but wonder what it was about this girl. Even though he had been faced with it for the greater half of a year, Squall still couldn't imagine his life without her being present. Not now, not ever. Not anymore. She had even been able to win the brunet's entire family over, doing so surprisingly easy, for one with such little motivation. She had no drive to succeed, and yet she did. It was astounding. Squall didn't believe in luck, but… he didn't know how else to explain it. It was a shame that she couldn't get along with Quistis however, perhaps her 'luck' or whatever it was, was inevitably set to expire after all.

Sensing something amiss, Rinoa attempted to recapture the attention of her currently distant boyfriend… if that was what he was to her.

As if finally noticing her, Squall suddenly snapped out of his stupor. "Something wrong?" he asked.

"No… what were you thinking about?"

"What do you mean?"

"I dunno… you looked like you were reminiscing something, that's all."

"No, I was just wondering."

"Oh no… about what?"

"Is there… is there anyone you can't impress?" Rinoa was suddenly taken aback.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"Well, you seem to be amazing at impressing people. It's a skill that needless to say, I just don't have. You seem to amaze everyone around you… except maybe Quistis, that is."

"Well, to be fair, everyone except Quistis and my father," the girl absentmindedly corrected…

Then it registered, what she had just said. Her breath caught and her eyes widened in horror at what she had just said, what she had just admitted, what she had just implied.

"Oh no, I… I didn't say that, okay Squall?" But the brunet remained silent. He could see that he had no place to comment. If this was something the slacker wished to discuss with him, she'd tell him so. Perhaps in time, that situation would present itself, but for now, all he could do was keep this to himself.

The pair stood in silence, just watching. The horizon, the tide, the sky; smelling the air, feeling the breeze, watching the cloudless sky. Watching the sun as it slowly retreated, gradually making its slothful descent.

The salty air of the sea surrounded the couple, chilling them slightly, lowering their temperature, as if telling them something, as if to signify something, as if trying to initialize something.

Catching on to the hint, Rinoa subconsciously shivered, her hands crossing over her chest, holding onto her arms just above the elbow, not a reaction that went unnoticed by Squall.

"You cold?" he asked, internally chastising himself for the senselessly obvious question. Why had he even bothered to ask? It was obvious, he could tell. Had someone said the same to him, he would probably have retorted with some kind of sarcastic remark, or otherwise ignored them completely. Rinoa however, merely nodded her head. Well, at least this gave Squall some insight to the slacker's character. To an impartial observer, it would appear that Rinoa was a lot kinder and more approachable that Squall. In that case, why did people even bother trying to talk to him when he was bound to snap at them like a wild dog?

He pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind. He could dissect them later, when he had more time. The last thing Rinoa needed right now was to freeze to death while Squall was on a mind-trip. It was an exaggeration, but that didn't matter. The morel was more or less identical. Squall wasn't sure how long they had been walking, nor how long they had been standing still in their present location. All sense of time and place seemed to be lost on him this day.

He turned his attention to Rinoa. "Maybe we should get back," he suggested.

"Yeah, I guess so," the slacker replied, looking away, seemingly troubled by something, as though something had embarrassed her.

"What is it?"

"Well… you're a guy right?"

"Last time I checked." Rinoa smiled in amusement.

"Well, I'm cold. Shouldn't you… I don't know, take off your jacket and give it to me or something?" Squall raised an eyebrow at the suggestion.

"Isn't that acliché?"

"Oh… I guess so," the girl replied, dejectedly.

"Just so you know, I would… but for that, and one other reason."

"What reason?" Rinoa exuberantly enquired, feeling sure this would be a good reason. The reply she got from the brunet however…

"I'm cold."

…was a landmark in terms of disappointment. She looked away.

"Rinoa, I was joking."

"Huh?" She looked to Squall, to see him smirking.

"I was just trying to be funny, that's all. Looks like I failed."

"Yeah… so you can wipe that grin off your face, mister comedian."

"Rinoa… that wasn't the funny part."

"Then what?" Squall's face was still adorned with that smirk. What was it, just what in Hyne's name did he find so amusing

"Look at you. You're wearing your duster over a swimsuit."

"Oh…" Squall must not have liked the look. That girl had said it would look good on her… She must have been wrong. Funny, Rinoa had never suspected that Squall disliked her duster. Perhaps she should stop wearing it, but that was her style. What could she possibly replace it with?"

"If I gave you my jacket to wear overtop of all that…" Squall continued, still smirking, "how ridiculous would you look?" Picturing it in her head, Rinoa could only agree.

"Yeah, you're right about that." A smile came to the girl's lips, but soon faded. "Hey! Are you laughing at me?"

"It would appear so," Squall dryly replied.

"Oh, how commendable of you, you are just _so_ 'boyfriend material,' aren't you?"

"Boyfriend material?" Squall asked, an eyebrow shooting up north without permission. "Does that even make sense?"

"Shut up, what kind of date is this supposed to be, anyway? First you drag me along to meet your own agenda, then you fall asleep, then you leave me alone to deal with a shop full of people who wanted to molest me…. And now, you're making fun of me!" As the pissed girl spoke, her pitch, not to mention her volume, continued to soar to new heights.

"I…" Squall paused. He didn't know what to say. What could he say? "Didn't you already forgive me for all that?"

"Yeah… I know I did. I was… I just needed to vent a bit, that's all. I guess I shouldn't have taken it out on you, sorry."

"Don't worry about it, but… is it my fault, even if only indirectly?"

"Well, technically…"

"Just tell me, I won't take it the wrong way."

"Then… yes. It's all your fault."

"Ouch." Rinoa couldn't keep the grin off her face. "Feel better now?"

"Yeah." As the girl drifted closer, Squall placed an arm around her, holding her in a loose, half-embrace. His reasoning that since he couldn't very well let the girl wear his jacket, maybe he could keep her warm this way, even if only a little. "Squall?" Rinoa asked, speaking oh so softly, as if in response to their current proximity."

"Hm?" the brunet questioned, all the while not really saying anything.

"Can we go home?"

"Yeah…" Squall's head was spinning. He felt as though he were dreaming. Perhaps… could that be what this was? Perhaps he was still asleep, and none of this had really happened. No, this couldn't be a dream. Once he started questioning the authenticity of the world, he knew it could only be real. Such thoughts never exist in dreams.

The pair walked so slowly. At that moment, they felt so close. It was strange, Squall couldn't explain it. The world was spinning. It was out of control but… he didn't care. Even though he felt as though he were stuck in a dream, even though he'd likely pass out from dizziness at any moment now, he didn't mind one bit.

Then they were struck with a problem.

They had reached the car park when Rinoa stopped walking. After that, it was a while before either of them spoke. Finally, it was Rinoa who broke the ice.

"Um, Squall… I don't think I should wear this when we get back."

"Why not?"

"Well, it's okay for the beach but… in a residential district… wouldn't it be a little revealing? I mean, It'd be like wearing underwear through the streets."

"Does it really matter?" The look on her face was enough. The brunet could tell that Rinoa was conflicted. He inevitably gave in. Whatever it took, he'd wipe the worry from her face. "Okay then."

"Okay then what?"

"You'd better get changed."

"Wait… you mean, out here?" Squall looked left and right, no life in sight.

"There's nobody around. You'll be fine."

"But… what if somebody shows up? Knowing my luck today…"

Squall opened the rear door on their side of the car and reached in, pulling out a beach towel.

"Hey, what's that for?"

"Dunno," Squall replied. "If I had to guess, I'd say Zell put it in there in case you wanted to bring your dog along.

"Oh, right."

"It can now serve another purpose."

"What?" Rinoa asked, but her question was answered all too soon when Squall held it out lengthwise in front to him, placing one end on each side of the doorway, closing it off. Since Rinoa had been standing in front of him, Squall had essentially boxed her in. "Squall, what are you doing?"

"You wanted privacy to change, right? Go ahead. Now nobody can see." Still, the girl hesitated. With a sigh, Squall added, "I won't peek. I promise." With a sideways glance, Rinoa finally agreed. This was her best option.

"You'd better not," she replied before nervously and hesitatingly removing her swimwear and placing her other clothes on from before, feeling slightly repulsed at the feel of the cold, damp fabric. Her clothes were not yet completely dry.

It was a testament to how much she trusted Squall to even go through with changing. For all she knew, he could have dropped the towel and left her utterly exposed to anyone who might happen to wander past.

On the other hand, he could have taken the opportunity to get an eyeful for himself. Most guys probably would have.

Fortunately for them both, Squall had done neither of these terrible things, and all the while, his gaze had remained on the sky, the clouds. Having noticed this, Rinoa smiled. He had seriously been looking away while covering her up until she was decent.

Stepping forward, she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you," she whispered to him and only him, leaning close, placing her lips softly on his. When Squall pulled back, she looked at him with an adorable, innocent, confused, questioning glance. "What's wrong?"

"What… what are you doing?"

"You don't like this?"

"You can't just come out of nowhere and do something like this."

"Why not?"

"I… I don't know, I guess I'm just not used to it. And… someone could walk past and see."

"So?" Not giving him the opportunity to argue, she tightened her hold and leaned in once more, once more arranging a meeting of their lips.

This time, the kiss lasted longer.

This time, the slacker pushed further, delved deeper. She parted their lips and entered the brunet's moist, warm cave.

Despite his previous objections, Squall did not resist. He allowed the girl to do as she wished. Being left holding the beach towel, he could find little else to do than wrap it around the girl's body, making a Rinoa burrito, or filled-roll of sorts. With nothing else to do, he relaxed into her and finally began to kiss the slacker back, mimicking the movements of her tongue with his own.

He didn't know how long the kiss had lasted, but such thoughts were unimportant to him right now. All that mattered was that it had happened.

As Rinoa had initiated it, she was the one to end it. After pulling back from the brunet, she smiled, blushing slightly. We're all alone, Squall. We could do more… go much further… you know, right here, right now? But I think you should do a little more for me first."

"I know what you're saying, Rinoa," Squall replied, "And frankly, I think you owe me already." Suddenly, the color drained from Rinoa's cheeks. Her mouth ran dry.

"What?"

"I'm a guy, remember. We only put up with this dating crap because we get sex out of it. Also… maybe you haven't noticed, but I have you cornered. With no one around…"

Rinoa suddenly felt a similar feeling to the one she'd had before, yet this was different. Different, but thrilling all the same. Did she secretly want this? She'd been joking but Squall's reaction, was he serious? His expression was so neutral, so somber. Did he just say what she thought he did? Was he intending to do what she thought he was? And this feeling, what was it? Could this, could it be? Could this be adrenaline?" "Um, Squall?"

"What?" He had his eyes closed.

"Uh… are you serious?" The brunet smirked.

"What do you think?"

"Um… I'd rather not say."

"Don't worry, I was just joking."

"Oh… right, I guess that was a pretty good one for you."

"You're not disappointed, are you?" Squall asked, his eyes now open, eyebrow arched.

"No, of course not! That would… that would be bad."

Squall's eyebrow refused to come down, and the corner of his mouth longed to join it up there. _If it's such a bad idea,_ he thought, _then why do you sound so disappointed? "_That's what your words say, but your voice and body language tell a different story."

"Shut up… when did you become such a comedian anyway?"

"Maybe you've rubbed off on me?"

"No, I've got it! You're not a law student at all, are you?"

"Okay, you got me. I don't study law." It was true. He didn't know where she got that idea from in the first place.

"I knew it, you go to _clown college!"_

"What?" At his reaction, Rinoa broke into laughter. In order to stop her, Squall had to tighten the towel that bound her to his grip. "Don't forget my little joke. I could go through with it, you know." That stopped her.

"Really?"

"No… not really. I wouldn't ruin a good day like that."

"You consider this a good day?"

"Yeah, I do." Thinking it over and considering everything, Rinoa found that she agreed with the brunet.

"So do I. Today _was_ a good day." Pecking him on the cheek, she thanked him and they each entered the car. The date had come to an end.

* * *

**Shameless Advertising Segment: **For those of you not in the know, I now have a livejournal. When I'm not ranting on there, I'll be posting previews of my stories before they get posted here. The url is on my profile page. If you have your own account there, you should be able to figure out the url. My account name is the same as my fanfiction penname.

If you have an account, add me as a friend and I'll do the same.


	15. Chapter 15

**The Slacker**

**Author's Notes:** This chapter dragged out longer than I thought, so I split it. I had initially planned to show the entire evening after their return, but I decided to split it up. This chapter will be Squall and Rinoa's return to their apartment. The title may be a little daunting, but I hope you enjoy it.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VIII

* * *

**The Argument**

The car came to a gradual halt outside the home of a blond mutual friend of its occupants. Exhaling a somewhat tired sigh, Squall turned off the engine and wordlessly exited the car. The day had been long and exhausting. So much for his quiet day of rest.

His eye drifted over to the raven haired girl as she exited the car, and he couldn't help but think it was all worth it. At least the two of them had been able to spend a day together. An entire day alone together. Well, mostly. There were, of course, many numerous distractions to worry about. But overall, all things considered, it had been a good day.

Now they just had to return the car to Zell and all would be complete.

"Speaking of which," the brunet mused aloud as the blond in question appeared from the door of his mother's apartment. Reflecting on it, Squall decided that the blond was somewhat fortunate to still be living at home. Most people had to deal with dorm life or find some kind of room for rent. Either way, they'd have to deal with roommates like Squall did.

He and Quistis were friends. Rather close ones too, so it wasn't a problem, but it could easily have turned out different.

On the other hand, perhaps there was a benefit to moving out of one's parents' house and living alone, or else with others. Perhaps for all its stress and potential problems, there truly was a great benefit.

Of course, it would depend on circumstance. Some would feel relieved to be away from their respective families, like Quistis and Rinoa. People to whom life in their parents' home could be called nothing but burdensome. Overbearing parents. Abusive parents. Even simple, plain, old, annoying parents like Laguna.

Squall's family was not a bad one. He had no vendetta with his father, although it was somewhat of a relief to be away from the bumbling clown.

"So how did it go?" Zell, seemingly curious, asked. Looking at him through slightly narrowed eyes, Squall replied.

"Are you really interested? Do you actually want to know, or are you just making conversation?"

"Well, a bit of both," Zell answered.

"In that case… I see no reason to tell you."

"What!" Silently laughing at the humorous situation, Rinoa felt sympathy and decided to cut the blond some slack.

"Let's just say it went well," she smiled.

"I can see that."

"Then why did you feel the need to ask?" Squall enquired in a way that suggested his disappointment in Zell's tediousness.

"Huh?" the blond responded. Squall sighed and slowly shook his head.

"Just forget about it. I brought your car back." Then, as if that were it, as if it were now settled, the brunet turned and walked off in the direction of the apartment he shared with Quistis, leaving his lazy girlfriend with the stupefied blond. Pausing as he reached the door he spoke one final line. "You coming?" Then, without waiting for a response, he opened the door, crossed the threshold and closed it quietly, with care, behind him.

Zell and Rinoa exchanged a glance and the young man spoke. "I think he was talking to you."

"Yeah," Rinoa nodded. Her brows were furrowed, trying to make sense of Squall's actions. Why had he acted so strangely? It didn't make sense. Shaking her head, she followed Squall's line to the door, offering a final "See you later," as she went.

Zell's lip curled as he watched her go. Those two were getting more alike every day.

"Hynedammit, don't start with me now," Squall impatiently snapped as Rinoa stepped inside the building. The slacker's eyes widened. What was going on? Had she done something wrong? Was Squall angry? And at whom? At her?

Forcing her chocolate irises to shine on the angry face of the usually subdued brunet, their eyes locked. Squall's, hard and stern; Rinoa's, wide and confused. What was going on? What had she done to evoke Squall's frustration? Had she said something on the beach? Was it that potentially embarrassing situation in the parking lot when Rinoa had been forced to change? Squall had been acting differently, strangely, since that moment.

Rinoa's gaze shifted over to the blonde, who merely clicked her tongue at the raven haired slacker.

"Did you at least pay the rent, Squall?" Quistis asked, "Speaking of which, I don't know what Mister Kramer is going to say about _her_ presence." Rinoa froze stiff, her breath caught in her throat.

Chocolate eyes shifted over to look at Squall, who, surprisingly, smiled. Of all possible reactions, Rinoa had not expected that one. Squall's lip curled upward and after an abominable pause, he spoke. "Actually, Rinoa's already taken care of that for us."

"What?" Quistis exclaimed, her response loud and thick with skepticism. Needless to say, she certainly hadn't expected Squall to have an answer to that.

"So then the rent is paid?"

"It is."

"And Rinoa has met with Kramer?"

"They have been introduced."

"And he had no problem with her staying here with you?"

"He is fine with it, so long as we don't have any loud parties."

"Is that going to be a problem?" Rinoa looked over to Quistis to see the young woman's eyes locked onto her own. Quistis was talking to her. Squall also turned to face the slacker, interested in her answer.

"Don't worry, Quisty. I left all my noisy friends in Deling."

"Well, that settle's that," Squall added dismissively.

"Wait," Quistis interjected.

"What is it?"

"Does Kramer know?"

"Know what," Squall hissed, his very voice seething impatience. When Squall spoke like that, especially to her, it frightened the raven haired girl, as did the frosted glare that accompanied the voice. To see someone stand up to both without even flinching, it was astounding. Rinoa's respect for the blonde had just gone up a notch.

"Know about you two… at night."

"He's aware that Rinoa sleeps in my room, if that's what you mean."

"And he has no problem with this? I find that hard to believe."

"I don't particularly care how hard it is for you to swallow. Hell, you don't even have to accept it if you don't want to, but it _is_ the truth, regardless of whether or not you choose to believe it as such."

"What's that?" the blonde asked, referring to the bundle in Rinoa's arms, in an attempt at changing the subject.

"Oh, it's a swimsuit."

"Swimsuit?" Quistis asked, perplexed.

"Well, we did go to the beach," Rinoa answered.

"Well, how nice for you," Quistis replied a little too sweetly.

"Um, excuse me?"

"By the state of your clothes, I thought you must have forgone the swimsuit and simply drenched yourself." Rinoa looked ashamedly at her own attire. Dark, heavy, and crinkled from its time bundled and wet in Zell's car.

"Oh, yeah. We did kind of do it backwards, but I didn't have a swimsuit, so when I got my clothes wet, Squall offered to buy me one."

"Oh did he now?" Quistis replied, turning her gaze over to the brunet. "And just how much are you prepared to blow on this little hobby of yours?"

"Hobby?" Rinoa asked. What was Quistis talking about?

"Admit it. She's an endearing pet to you, isn't she? That doesn't mean you have to spend every last Gil on her." Squall had had enough. He and Quistis usually got along, but she'd begun to grate on his nerves lately, and now she was taking her frustrations out on Rinoa.

"So? What's wrong with that?" he demanded. "She's here, get used to it. And yes, I am glad that she happens to be with us. I am thankful for that. As for spending money, it's not like this world will let us keep it. So then, if I must spend my money, I may as well spend it on her!"

"Your money Squall?" Quistis retorted. "Funny, I always thought it was _our_ money."

"So did I. Until today."

"Um… actually," Rinoa squeaked, unsure of whether or not she should join the conversation; or argument, as it was now becoming, "As it turned out, we didn't actually wind up paying any money for this. The shop gave it to us for free."

"See?" Squall added. "No money, no problem.

"No problem, huh? How did you get away without paying? What, did you steal it, or did Rinoa spend some time with the security guard?" The shared expression on the faces of her peers gave Quistis all the confirmation she needed.

"While that technically is true…" Squall began, only to be hurriedly cut off by Rinoa's desperate interjection.

"Don't tell her that!"

"…it is not in the way you think."

"Fine, whatever, you two do as you wish."

"Gladly," Squall replied, pushing past the two girls on his way upstairs.

"What was all that about?" Rinoa asked after he had gone. She received no audible response. "I mean, that was a pretty big escalation, all because of a swimsuit, right? I mean, it's Squall's money. He works for it. What's it matter if he wants to spend a few hundred Gil?" Quistis narrowed her eyes at the raven haired girl.

"If you say so," she hissed. Taking the hint, Rinoa though it best to avoid the blonde. At least until she had time to calm down.

"I'm going to go take a shower."

"Do what you want. Squall's made it perfectly clear that you're free to do as you see fit, and I'd loath to cross him."

"Okay then," Rinoa spoke, before wordlessly ascending the stairs, heading toward the very place that Squall had gone.

"You know, you kinda scared me in there," she said after having climbed the stairs. She had found the brunet in his room, or their room, as was a more accurate description. Squall didn't answer her verbally, but instead turned to her and offered a neutral expression. "Do you realize that you two argue like a married couple?"

"Whatever," Squall replied, dismissing her once more. How many times had she heard that line from him?

"No, I mean it. My parents were the same before they split up."

"I'm sorry about that."

"Apologizing to me won't do anything. Quistis was the one you were crossing words with. Actually… come to think of it, you two could probably give my parents a run for their money as far as shouting matches go." It was strange, and Squall picked up on it immediately, though he didn't say anything about it. Rinoa spoke of such awful subject matter, yet she did it with a smile on her face.

Squall looked away dejectedly. There was nothing he could say.

"I'm… I'm gonna take a shower. I _really _need one after today." Squall nodded his head silently. It was a drastic change from downstairs. The conversation with Quistis had escalated to all-out war, with its combatants using words as their weapons. Up here with Rinoa however, everything was so quiet. So… intimate.

Rinoa had left, and the brunet was left to his own thoughts once again. He needed to relax, to cool down. He had to stop thinking.

He was alone, or so he had thought. When Rinoa popped her head around the door to speak, it caught the brunet off-guard.

"Um… is it because of me?" Squall sent her a confused look, communicating with only his eyes, but the raven haired slacker knew what he meant. "You and Quistis. That was a pretty big argument. Was it because of me?"

Squall let out a breath full of air. He and Quistis had been at each other's throats today. Was Rinoa to blame? Was it her fault? Of course it was. It started the day she'd arrived. But that wasn't fair, and the knowledge wouldn't help the girl in any way whatsoever.

She never admitted such, but Squall suspected Rinoa of blaming herself for her parents past marital problems. The last thing she needed was to see herself as some kind of relationship jinx that spread bad luck and misfortune to all those around her.

Finally, the brunet spoke. "No," he declined in an even tone. "There are other variables. The cause of recent tension is the result of them. It'll work out. Don't worry about it." Nodding, Rinoa seemed to accept the answer, and she disappeared into the hallway.


	16. Chapter 16

**The Slacker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VIII

**The Walk**

* * *

It was no use. Squall couldn't relax like this. He'd tried sitting. He'd tried lying down. He'd tried breathing. He'd even tried pacing – the thinking man's walk. That was a great idea for someone trying to clear their head.

There was too much going on to simply not think about it. Ever since Rinoa had arrived, it was like she'd brought with her a maelstrom of chaos.

How was he supposed to relax? Even now, the thought of her across the hall in the bathroom kept attacking the barrier of his mind.

He tried to shake it free. Rinoa deserved privacy as she showered. From all three of the brunet's eyes. She didn't think about him in the shower… did she?

No, he wasn't even going to entertain that thought. Who knew where it might lead? A destination, a thought. Another that he would not entertain.

Quistis… ever since Rinoa had first arrived here, the blonde had seemingly had a problem with it. Why? Was it simply the principle, or did she have a genuine problem with Rinoa? Did she dislike Rinoa as a person, or simply the fact that she was here? What was going on?

Why was she acting like this? And what was with her before? So he'd taken the slacker out for the day. Quistis had been the one who'd told him to do it. If Squall remembered correctly, the blonde had all but demanded that Squall and Rinoa go out for the entire day so that she could have some peace.

Then there was the Slacker herself. If Rinoa were to leave, would things become easier? Possibly. Squall wouldn't need to deal with Quistis' tirades. There would be less stress at home. Mister Kramer would also be pleased… speaking of which, it was actually kind of surprising that he didn't raise the rent with the news that Rinoa had arrived. Such an action would have been expected from one such as him.

When Squall had first moved in, the rent had been raised, and Squall had been forced to find a job in order to compensate. Before he'd moved in, Quistis' government sanctioned Personal student allowance had been enough for her to live on, but although the five percent rent increase wasn't large, with another mouth to feed, there simply wasn't enough money to go around With the extra expense, Quistis' budget had been spread just a little too thin.

Since Quistis was already contributing money via her allowance; and considering that Squall was not entitled to one, partly because he was an immigrant with a student Visa, and partly because his parents had too much money for him to be entitled for financial assistance, he had offered to find a part time job. It was only fair that he should pull his own weight around the apartment and contribute.

It may not have been totally ideal, but since Squall was eighteen years old, his financial situation was legally linked to that of his parents. Those under the age of twenty five could not claim financial assistance from the government if their parents were too well off, financially.

It was ironic. Squall was poor because his father was so rich.

It was ironic. The rich boy needed two jobs just to scrape by.

It was ironic. Squall and Rinoa's situations were so similar, and yet they were so different.

If Rinoa were to leave, perhaps things would be easier, but then what? Where would she go? She refused to move back with her Father, and there was no-one else who could take her in. Their old friends from school back in Deling… Squall knew nothing of them or their situations. They had lost contact, and could not be considered friends anymore. They had all gone their separate ways. It was normal, was it not? Their school life was over. Now began their adult life. The hope of clinging onto the past was pointless idealism.

That included Rinoa.

But… the brunet wanted her to stay. He wanted the slacker with him. He desired her company. For as long as it should last.

* * *

Rinoa stepped from the comfortably moist heat of the shower, out to the cold air of the bathroom. After having washed the salt and sand from her skin and hair, she felt much better. She felt much more refreshed.

Her arm reached out for a towel which she wrapped comfortably about her dripping wet body, tucking the ends and holding them together beneath her right shoulder and keeping them together while holding them in place with her arm.

She searched throughout the bathroom for something. For anything with which to dry her hair.

She found her solution in the form of a black, electric hair dryer. Tracing the long, thin, black, power cable, Rinoa's fingers inevitably came to brush over a large, white, plastic label; on which was written in large, golden ink, a name. Obviously the name of the device's owner.

A large, golden 'Quistis.'

"Yeah, right. I should have guessed it would be hers."

Honestly, who else would own one? Squall? Not likely. Squall didn't exactly strike the raven haired slacker as someone who put a lot of thought, time, and effort into his personal appearance. Unlike Zell, he allowed his hair to fall wherever gravity dictated. He felt no need to do otherwise. He felt no reason to clog his hair with who knew how many products just so he could defy the laws of physics.

The thought of Squall with a hairstyle like Zell's… it simply wouldn't work. He'd look so silly. So…

The thought brought a smile to the girl's lips. She couldn't even complete her thought. Shaking her head with a slight laugh, Rinoa plugged in the hairdryer and turned it on.

After having dried her hair, with assistance from the dryer, as well as a brush and comb, not to mention the fogged-up bathroom mirror, Rinoa turned and departed the bathroom.

She opened the bathroom door and crossed the hallway into the bedroom that she and Squall now shared. She'd deprived her boyfriend of her presence for long enough now, hadn't she?

But when she entered the room, she found it unexpectedly empty.

Squall was nowhere to be found.

With her mind wandering faster than her legs, Rinoa descended the stairs to find Quistis still fussing about in the kitchen. "Hey," she greeted. The blonde ignored her completely.

Oh no. Rinoa would _not_ let the other girl get away with that.

"Geez, what crawled up your ass today, Quisty?" Quistis slammed down the metallic object she'd been holding in her hand onto the countertop and when she spoke, she faced away from Rinoa, with her back to the lazy girl.

"What do you want me to say, Rinoa?"

"You could at least say hi."

"That would only lead to another pointless conversation."

"It's just hi."

"No it's not, Rinoa. One thing always leads to another. I don't… I just… You being here, it's hard for me. I don't know why. I can't explain it."

"Um… you and Squall, you _are_ just friends, right?"

"Of course we are."

"Good. So there's nothing going on that I should know about?" After a pause, Quistis answered in the negatory.

"No. It's nothing like that."

"Good. But then, what is it? There has to be _some_ reason for why you've been so hostile towards me."

"Let me guess, you expect an apology."

"Did Squall talk to you about this?"

"Did you talk to squall about this?"

"I asked first."

"No."

"I did so!" Quistis Sighed and turned around to face the slacker, to make contact with her eyes of chocolate brown.

"I mean I didn't talk with him about it."

"Oh, neither did I. So Squall didn't tell you to give me an apology?"

"No… I suppose you want one?"

"Not really. I just want to know what your problem with me is."

"You show up out of nowhere with your things and expect to be taken in. What part of that am I supposed to be okay with? You're so different from anything I've ever seen. You're not like anyone I've ever met before."

"Where have I heard that line before… have you been watching old movies?"

"I'm serious, Rinoa. There's something about you. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something."

"You're not coming out to me, are you?" Quistis' eyes widened.

"No, of course not!"

"Coming on to me then?"

"Actually, it's the exact opposite."

"Oh, good," Rinoa said, feeling both relieved and insulted.

"You… I think you bring out the worst in me. It's just your attitude. It's infuriating. You don't contribute, you don't work, you don't do anything. You just sit around the house all day."

"Hey, at least I'm not fat," Rinoa defended.

"With the way you live, I'm surprised."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Was I talking too fast for you? Should I use smaller words?"

"You know what, Quisty?"

"What? Are you going to go crying to Squall now? He can't solve all of your problems for you. You do realize that, don't you?"

"Yes…" Rinoa, who now wore a plain white t-shirt with her black shorts, turned away from the blonde who was now preparing ingredients, and sat down on the couch. She knew from experience that continuing this conversation would not be in her best interest. It was best to walk away and take the time to cool down. "Where is Squall, anyway? He wasn't upstairs."

"He went out."

"Helpful… Any idea where?"

"No… He said he was going for a walk."

"What, another one? I'm surprised he hasn't worn out the soles of his shoes with all the walking he does." Dropping the subject, Rinoa reached to the nearby table for the remote control for the old, out-dated television and turned it on. "Oh yeah," she said, remembering something. "Quisty?"

"What?"

"I used your hairdryer." Rinoa leaned back into the couch, ignoring the sound of things dropping through the air and hitting the kitchen floor.

* * *

When he stepped onto the street, he found that Zell was outside, inspecting every detail of his car, the equivalent of his child. It was amusing to see. They'd only been gone for the day. How much damage could they have possibly done to his precious baby?

Squall crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the house as he watched, a slight smirk playing upon his face.

"You realize we only had the car for the better part of a day," he spoke, causing the blond to jump from surprise and hit the back of his head against the ceiling of the car's interior.

"Squall," Zell replied, upon turning around. "How long have you been there?"

"Not long."

"In Balambese time?"

"About a minute?" Squall replied, shrugging his shoulders. "What does it matter?"

"Oh… Well, I guess it doesn't."

"So…" Squall began, hoping that the blonde would catch on.

"What?" Apparantly, he hadn't taken the hint. Squall shouldn't have been surprised. The blond had never been too good at picking up the subtle. He was vastly different from Quistis. Then again, Squall and Rinoa were the same. People had always commented that the two of them were proof that opposites clearly attracted one another.

"What are you doing? Do you not trust me to drive your car for a day?"

"Well, yeah. Of course I do."

"Then what's with the over-thorough examination? You make it seem as though Rinoa and I went joyriding through Deling City. I take it you've been doing that since we got back?"

"No, it's nothing like that, but with the sea breeze that's present in Balamb, You have to be careful. Things like this tend to rust."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right."

"So what are you doing out here?"

"Not much." At Zell's pressing look, he continued. "I was thinking of taking a walk."

"Oh… would you mind taking Rinoa's dog out with you?" Thinking it over, Squall nodded. He had no problem with that.

"I'll head in and get her. I'm assuming you keep Angelo collared?"

"Yeah. She's tied to the living room table. Just go on in."

* * *

It was a two hour reminder of just how horrible free-to-air television was in this small, harbour town. Flipping through the limited channels on offer, Rinoa gave a sigh.

There were only six channels, and two more that only offered sound. With nothing better to watch, Rinoa finally settled on a local News show and placed the remote control back on the coffee table before her. Resting her head on the back of the couch, she barely heard the door open to signify Squall's return.

Closing the door behind him, he crossed the room and sat beside the raven-haired slacker on the couch. He did so quietly and without the slightest fuss.

"I walked your dog," he announced so that only Rinoa would hear him."

"Oh, um… thanks," she softly replied, settling closer to her subdued boyfriend.

"It was no problem. I was heading out anyway."

"You should have waited. I'd have gone with you."

"You were showering. You don't want to head out in this climate with wet hair."

"I dried it," Rinoa defended.

"Not with Quistis' personal hair dryer, I trust."

"Actually, yeah. I used it."

"Oh…. Quistis doesn't like people touching that. It's special to her."

"Yeah," Rinoa replied with a grin, relaxing into Squall's welcoming frame, sitting on his left, resting her head on his right shoulder. Looking up into his face, their eyes met in a moment of solemn, yet carefree intimacy. "I kinda figured that out for myself."

It took a moment, but eventually, Squall let free an honest, amused grin to match that on the lips of his girlfriend.

The pair shifted themselves into slightly more comfortable positions on the couch as Quistis entered the room. The blonde sent a wordless glance to each of her housemates before heading to the kitchen.

The pair turned their interest to the television as they heard the sound of the refrigerator opening, and then closing. Soon after, Quistis passed in front of them, stopping beside the couch, a drink in her hand.

"Squall. Rinoa and I ate without you; but if you're hungry, there are leftovers in the fridge. Unless you've eaten already?"

Squall thanked the blonde and turned his attention back to the television screen.

"Well, don't mind me. I'll be heading back up to my room."

Waiting for a reply that never came, Quistis turned and climbed the staircase to the peace and seclusion of her bedroom.

* * *

**There ya go. A bit of fluff to compensate the worry some of you may have had at seeing the title of last chapter, not that the deception wasn't intentional. Who says I never give you anything nice?**

* * *

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The URL for my forums should be as follows: .net/myforums/morbid333/1501241/


	17. Chapter 17

**The Slacker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't Own Final Fantasy VIII

* * *

**The Monday**

The warmth. The supreme comfort. He didn't want to let it go. He didn't want to ever wake up from this. It felt so right. So perfect. It was the weekend, right? The young man's fatigue could afford to win one battle.

The warmth enveloped him like nothing else. Why should he give that up? Whatever it was that kept him so comfortable, it deserved the same.

Whatever it was…?

It deserved the same…?

It…?

What was it?

Was it something?

Was something there?

Was some…one…there?

Who was it?

A he? A she? A her? A him? A thing? A shim?

A… shim? What was… that didn't even make sense.

From within the safety of his warm bubble, he heard a sound penetrate from outside. It compromised the sanctity of his warm, comforting slumber. He recognized the sound. Those sounds.

A voice.

A laugh.

A person.

Someone was laughing.

Laughing –

Laughing –

At him.

He had become the subject of humour and fun. Why? What was it?

"Squall?"

She was calling his name. Who was it?

She?

Yes. A feminine voice. A female. A she.

Who was she?

From the black bubble of sleep, Squall could feel himself stirring.

No, he didn't want this. He didn't want the bubble to leave him. Without it, he was vulnerable to the cold. He wanted this warmth, this comfort.

He needed this. He needed to sleep. He didn't want to wake up.

"You have no choice," the voice jokingly chided. "It's time."

_Why?_

"It just is. We don't want to be late do we?"

_Late for what?_

"You know perfectly well what day it is."

…_Saturday? _There it was. That laughter again. That friendly, mocking laughter. Mocking, but in a good way. Like an inside joke between friends sharing a drink or two.

"You wish."

_Saturday is not a day of rest… I'm not religious, but I rest on the seventh. Not on the sixth. The sixth is a day of work. Today isn't for work. Today is…_ What was today? What was it? What had happened the day before?

The young man remembered walking along the golden shore of Rinaul Coast, a young woman clad in a blue bikini by his side. He remembered watching the tide as it came in. The two were sharing a meaningful conversation. It made a change from the norm of meaningless words and phrases exchanged for the sake of noise, as if only to keep the apparently abominable, unendurable silence at bay.

He had watched her in the water. She'd had fun without him like a child. Like an innocent little girl without a care in the world. The young man had felt like an old man caring for another's daughter at that moment. Part of him regretted not joining her in the water, but it was just something he couldn't have done. Besides. He wasn't dressed for swimming. Neither had she been… that didn't stop her. Perhaps he was too uptight. Perhaps not.

They'd faced several obstacles that day. Among them, an obtuse security guard who longed to inconvenience them, who wanted to search the raven haired girl.

Another had been Mister Kramer. Full name, Cid Kramer. Along with his mysterious wife, he owned a monopoly of properties in the town of Balamb. If anyone wanted to rent a place in the quiet harbour town, they had to pay a landlord. More likely than not, that landlord would turn out to be Cid Kramer. It was doubtless to be a stressful job owning and caring for so many buildings, and he showed it. His face was adorned with the signs of ageing and his disposition was usually less than cheerful.

Their final confrontation of the day had been with Quistis. A heated argument had ensued.

The day had not been all bad, however. The two had managed to have a pleasant time together and their date had concluded with a walk, coming to an end with a long, delicate kiss.

That had been a long day and Squall had not received an abundance of his much needed rest.

Wait, if that had been his day of rest, the seventh day to some, first to others… Sunday. If that were the case, and this happened to be the next morning, that could only mean one thing.

It was Monday.

As if on cue, as if having been signalled by some great epiphany, Squall's eyes snapped open. His first impulse was to take in his surroundings. He was in the living room of his apartment. The lights were on, but through the open blinds on the windows he could see the morning sky. Blue, with patches of grey cotton. It was clearly morning.

Squall's gaze brought his focus to more immediate matters. People, to be exact. Directly ahead of him, his eyes stared directly into the blue orbs of Quistis, who stared back at him, amusement shining on her face. It was so evident. She didn't even bother to make the attempt to hide it.

Turning his head slowly to the side, his vision came to rest on the eighteen year old girl with Raven hair that contently lay snuggled into his chest. This had to be the focus of Quistis' amusement.

Evidently, neither Squall nor the slacker had made it to their bedroom last night.

"Glad to see you're finally up, as much as I hate to break up the happy couple."

"Whatever," Squall softly replied. Even in his current state he could tell that he wouldn't be living this down any time soon. Quistis and Zell would be laughing at him about it until at least the end of the day. And for much longer than that, more likely than not.

"You know you have to get up now." It wasn't phrased as a question, but neither was it patronizing or demeaning. If anything, it was a reminder that they had to get going; that they had a place to be.

At least the blonde was treating the Rinoa issue with more delicacy than she had in the past. Perhaps yesterday's argument had made an impact.

Wait, the Rinoa issue? Is that what the Raven haired slacker had become? An issue? Was even Squall beginning to think that way? Something had to change, yet at the same time, Squall would happily let it remain the same.

He carefully positioned his hands so that he could move Rinoa without waking her, so that he could get up but allow her to continue sleeping. He didn't want to wake her.

Yet, wake her he did, intentional or not; as her body was slowly and carefully repositioned into some kind of foreign pose, the raven haired slacker stirred in her sleep.

Cream-coated eyelids slowly rolled open, pale skin sliding upward to reveal dark, tired eyes. The girl let loose an unintentional moan in her exhaustion, as one who is escaping the seductive clutches of slumber.

Chocolate brown eyes moved to glance upon the face of the brunet who had disturbed her rest. "Squall?" she asked absentmindedly, her voice a tired drawl, barely aware of her surroundings.

"Sorry," the brunet apologized. He truly hadn't meant to wake her.

"What's going on?"

"It's morning. I have to go soon." Rinoa seemed to accept this, but she made no move to step aside and allow him to stand. When Squall carefully moved her himself however, she showed no sign of resistance, and merely allowed him to reposition her however he liked.

With her head resting upon the couch's armrest, Rinoa was able to watch as he walked away, as he left her behind. "Squall…?" she murmured.

The brunet turned around. There was no frustration evident on his features, nor in his voice. When he spoke to her, it was in a calm, collected, and reserved tone. "I'm going to have to go now. Don't worry, everything's fine. Just go back to sleep. Okay?" Quietly, and after a slight hesitation that even Squall could not hope to analyse, the brunette slowly and wordlessly nodded her head. "We'll talk when I get back." He then turned and walked away, leaving Rinoa to herself.

After tracing his footsteps until they were well out of her field of vision, the raven haired slacker's eyes slowly drew closed.

Rinoa… what was she thinking? Was there something she wanted? The girl had hesitated before visibly accepting what Squall had had to say. Was there something to that slight pause? That slight hesitation? Did Rinoa have something she needed to say to him, or was she simply tired?

Unfortunate though it may have been, Squall had been forced to place Rinoa third on his list of priorities. Third was a place that no-one wanted to be, and no matter how insulted, disregarded, or discarded it may have made her feel, there was no choice in the matter. At this time in his life, with his busy schedule of work and study, Squall simply had no time for anyone.

Quistis and Zell were lucky enough to go to the University with him in the mornings, and when they shared leisure time together, the three of them would meet and go to a restaurant or café.

Perhaps Squall could have Rinoa meet him somewhere during one of his breaks.

His vision ascended as he noticed Quistis in her typical attire. Her head was engrossed, ensnared like a small flying creature within the open mouth of the refrigerator. His lips pulled upward at the sight.

"We ready to go?" the brunet asked.

"Are you ready to go like that?" Quistis asked, her voice sounding from within the refrigerator that currently refused to let her go.

"From the way you were talking, I thought you must have been in some kind of hurry."

"No, but I don't want us to be late again."

"Quistis… we've never been late."

"True, but I don't want to start now. Now that we have established a record of always being on time, it's all the more important to get there. I don't want to tarnish my name by being late."

"I say it now, I've said it before. You need to slow down."

"Is that you talking, or Rinoa?" The blonde had a point. Squall was not one to talk in such a situation. He was well on the way to a fatigue-laden burnout. He was like an overused light bulb.

"Zell agrees with me. You should stop and relax every once in a while."

"And do what? Not everyone has a floosy to distract them."

"You have Zell," Squall suggested, ignoring the blonde's comment, clearly meant as an insult directly aimed at Rinoa.

"Here," Quistis replied, handing Squall a plastic cup containing a chilled, pink liquid. "What is it, some kind of meal replacement? You know those fad diets never work, right?"

"Of course I do, but liquid meal replacement isn't a fad diet. It nourishes with everything found in fruit and vegetables. Think of it as being a vegetarian."

"Good thing Zell isn't here," Squall remarked.

Quistis' upper lip curled at the quip. They both knew he wouldn't survive a single day without consuming meat. It was like giving rabbit food to a T-Rexaur. To him, words such a vegetarian and vegan were heresy and sacrilege. His favourite food was Hotdogs, Galbadian style. That said it all, really.

"So… what is this, exactly?" Squall asked of the blonde about the drink she had handed to him.

"Mixed berry smoothie," Quistis replied, finding one for herself and taking a sip from the supplied straw. "There's one more in there. You and Rinoa can fight over it."

"Where'd you get them?"

"I found a place yesterday."

"Burger stand?"

"No…" Balamb didn't even have burger stands. They had a Chocobo Burger restaurant though. Chocobo burger was one of the world's biggest fast food chains. It was unknown why it was so popular. Perhaps it was the mascots they employed to prance about in bright yellow, feathery costumes. But regardless of the many millions of customers they had, nobody knew for sure if their food actually contained Chocobo meat, or whether that was just their name and image. "It was a café, actually."

"Not that one we went to?" Squall asked, remembering the one with the cats and the cowboys.

"No, this was a different one. They were more of a bakery, really, but they had separate counters for fruit smoothies and fried chicken."

"Maybe Zell would like it," Squall suggested.

"Maybe…"

"Could you show me where it is?"

"Sure, we can go there for lunch."

"Okay, that'll work." Squall didn't mention the fact that avoiding that other, classless café would ease his conscience, but it was something that didn't need to be said. Deep down, he was certain that Quistis knew. She was an intelligent young woman who devoted much of her time to her studies. There was no doubt in Squall's mind that she would figure it out, even though she and Zell weren't taking psychology classes.

Of the three of them, Squall was the only one to major in Psychology. Zell and Quistis were both working toward careers in finance. Despite Rinoa's claims, not one of them happened to be studying law. Where the dark haired girl had picked that idea up, Squall would likely never know.

Was it simply some misguided assumption on Rinoa's part? It was certainly amusing, and never tired, no matter how many times she pulled out the line and used it on him. Squall simply shrugged it off, thinking of it as an amusing quirk as he raised the smoothie's straw to his lips and took a sip of the thick, chilled, pink liquid contained within.

* * *

**I kind of lost motivation to write for a while there. I just couldn't make myself do it. I was also feeling irritable, fatigued, I have yet another cold comming on** - **because my immune system is apparantly lazier than I. I also had peaople bitching at me, which didn't help things. Anyway. I took a small break from writing since wednesday, thursday, friday... I dunno when it was, of course I was unable to write anything for most of last week anyway. Could I have had this up sooner? Possibly, but I'm not sure. Hopefully I can do better now. Although I'm still feeling pretty tired, and I'm still sleeping in.**

**Anyway, for my next story that I write when I take a break from this, which should it be? if any of you have a preference, go ahead and let me know**

**1. Squall Leonheart - Knight of the Old Republic - **an FF8/KOTOR Crossover in which Squall's homeworld is ripped apart by civil war and eventually conquered by the Sith, causing him to be sold into slavery before escaping and working alongside a certain smuggler for the Republic as a mercenary

**2. A Measure of Trust** - a Gundam Seed AU Cagalli/Lacus story in which Cagalli is raped while making her drunken way home late one night. After which, she stumbles to her best friends house during the early hours of the morning to be greeted by her friend's older sister.

* * *

**Shameless Advertising Segment: **As much as I loath following trends, ever since I stopped doing it. Seriously, I once followed all the crazes based on kids anime. Pokemon, then DBZ, Then, sadly – Beyblade, and then Yugioh. That's about where I got off the fad train. It's almost like I've unwittingly boarded once more, going to livejournal and now this. I recently started a devientART profile. I've been going there for the past year or so to look at what people can do. Now, I can comment. So let me know if you're on there and I'll take a look at your work. I know I can't draw, but that's the point. I'm using it to mark my progress. I have a plan in mind. For now, I haven't put anything hand drawn up, but I have posted what I call Ten Minute Mouse Doodles. Basically, quick doodles in MS word using a mouse. They're fun, fast, and… well, weird. They're in my scrapbook, if anyone's interested.


	18. Chapter 18

**The Slacker**

**Author's Notes: **Allow me to thank those of you who reviewed. As for which story I write, it would seem that the Star Wars crossover is the more popular choice. I will be doing that one next. It was my intention anyway. That one I came up with first. I thought I'd give people a choice, and the unanimous response has been to agree with me.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VIII

**The Babysitter**

After Squall had left her alone in the living room, Rinoa had found herself unable to slip back into the peaceful, silent slumber of sleep. She had repositioned herself many times in an attempt at getting more comfortable, but all efforts had merely resulted in failure. Again and again.

It didn't matter how many times she lay herself down on the couch cushions. They would offer her no respite from her tiredness. They had been comfortable enough the night before. In fact, she hadn't even noticed herself dozing off into sleep. Perhaps Squall had something to do with that. For some unknown reason, she always seemed to sleep better when he was nearby. Say, right beside her for instance. With a sigh, she finally decided to get up.

Her ears had informed her some time ago that Squall and Quistis had left, taking Zell with them. She was alone again. All alone, and in for another boring, lonely week.

Well, to be honest, Rinoa wasn't totally alone. She still had Angelo.

Her dog was likely tied up next door. Rinoa hadn't spent much time with her four-legged companion over the past couple of days.

_Why not,_ she decided. _It's not as though I have anything else to do today._

There. It was settled. Rinoa would spend some time with her furry friend.

Stretching out her arms and legs, the girl let loose a silent yawn that seemed to stretch every muscle in her face, as well as force a large intake of air into her lungs. The ordeal worked almost as well as cold water splashed onto her face, waking her restless mind from morning daydreams and the desire of continued sleep.

Rinoa had actually made it out the door without consequence before a shocking revelation startled her. Her entire body froze stiff, like an ice sculpture. She halted the process of breathing, her lungs painfully filled to capacity. Her eyes were wide with shock, but she had no way to address the problem.

She was already outside. She could see the empty street, save for a lone man sitting on a bench outside a pawnshop across the road. He looked at her briefly, thinking nothing of the raven haired slacker before turning his attention back to the newspaper held in his hands.

The morning breeze was perhaps a little too refreshing for the girl. "Perhaps I should get dressed first," she uttered to herself, subconsciously thankful that nobody happened to be around to overhear that potentially embarrassing phrase.

Realistically, Rinoa wasn't completely bare. She still had on the clothes she had changed into the previous afternoon. Or was it evening? It was that late afternoon, early evening time, anyway.

She wore basic t-shirt and shorts. She was dressed enough, but was it entirely a good idea to continue wearing the same outfit throughout the day? After all, she had slept in it.

As she debated the idea of wearing the same clothes for a second day, a chill ran down her spine.

They were fresh clothes after all, and Rinoa only had enough outfits to last so long until she'd have nothing left to wear… that was a distracting thought.

She'd showered before putting the clothes on, and to change now would be wasteful, wouldn't it? What if she ran out of underwear?

But what about hygiene? Wouldn't it be a little unclean to wear them again?

_I'd better change,_ she concluded.

Turning around, Rinoa stepped back inside the house, leaving the front door wide open, and ascended the stairs to enter Squall's bedroom and rummaged through a few of Squall's unused draws. By now, they had figured out a system. Squall had cleared out the bottom few draws for his dependent girlfriend to use. Of course she'd taken the liberty of accepting them and had moved her clothing in as soon as she could. After all, who wanted to live out of a suitcase? Honestly, it was so degrading. Just like the prospect of being homeless.

After stripping down to the skin, the girl leaned down and opened the bottom draw, sorting through her unmentionables, night clothes, undershirts, and of course, her new bathing suit.

There was something to be said about being completely nude. It was, in a word: exhilarating. Particularly alone in the house like this, but even more if there were a chance of getting caught. Danger always heightened the anticipation, after all.

The door to the house was wide open. Anyone could wander in. What if they saw her? The prospect was somewhat exciting, but the girl reasoned that she should hurry. It wasn't as though she were actually inviting such a thing to happen.

Rummaging through the two draws she had to call her own, Rinoa picked out a matching black set of undergarments, along with a simple black t-shirt and a black pair of shorts, tossing her chosen clothes in a pile behind her.

In her drawers, were the only clothes she'd brought. Each day, the pile of dirty laundry in the corner became larger, and her supply of fresh outfits became smaller. That wasn't to say that she had brought a diverse selection of clothing, but those items she had brought were an honest sample of every garment she owned.

When it came to apparel, she had her favourites and she stuck to them. She had her duster and a few dresses, but Rinoa was for the most part an honest, easy-going, although quite opinionated girl. This was reflected in the clothes she wore. Casualwear. T-shirts, jeans, and shorts. These were her clothes of choice.

Her appearance reflected her outlook on life, as did her clothing. Her favourite colour also happened to come into play. Rinoa wasn't the type to do or wear something she didn't like. It had to be her. It had to be comfortable. And she had to like it. As such, she owned nothing outside of her preferred colour scheme. Outside of neutrals, she didn't own anything that wasn't blue.

Blue. Black. White. These were her colours of choice. While some girls may have gone straight for heated, stimulating colours such as red, pink, and in Quistis' case, peach, Rinoa had always adored cool blue. Deep blue.

Back in Galbadia, when her father's house was being renovated, Rinoa had actually been given a choice of which colour her bedroom should be painted. She'd never particularly liked the scheme of cream walls, white ceilings, and grey carpets.

Was it really any surprise as to her decision? Was the question seriously required to be asked? Was there really a single person alive who couldn't predict the girl's choice? Rinoa hadn't even needed to think about it. Not for a second.

Her answer had been instant and determined.

Blue.

Reminiscing of the good times from a year ago, Rinoa dressed in her selection of clothes and slowly descended the stairs on her way next door to pick up her furry friend. It had been a few days since she'd last walked Angelo.

Rinoa wondered how excitable she might be.

_Well,_ _only one way to find out,_ she surmised with a smile.

One hour and a bucket of sweat later, Rinoa had completed her next task for the day. Walking an exercised Angelo with the dog's lead in her right hand, she swept the secreted liquid from her moist brow with her right.

Rinoa did not envy anyone who happened to see her at that moment. She must have looked atrocious. Her face glistened. Her hair probably appeared drenched. And for all the fluid escaping her face, it came to nothing when compared to her back. Her entire body felt so sticky, like taffy or caramel.

Perhaps it was a good thing she hadn't taken a shower before, but she certainly felt as though she needed one right now. _Darn the accursed sun! Darn it until it falls from the sky._

Finally, the girl reached her destination. The door to the Dincht's house was in sight. Perhaps Rinoa shouldn't have changed her clothing after all. She'd have had a spare set to change into. Unfortunately, nothing could be done about that now.

A lamenting sigh was felt to pass through Rinoa's loose lips. It was a bad judgement call. Nothing else.

_Oh well,_ the girl dismissed. She'd have no choice but to endure the stuffy, sticky, sweaty state that her body was now in. What could she do?

Crossing the road, she went straight for the Dincht's door and opened it, quickly stepping inside to escape the oppressive heat of the morning sun.

Closing the door behind her, Rinoa announced her presence to the woman who was busy in this apartment's tiny kitchenette. Even by the standards Rinoa had gotten used to, this place was small. It was practically microscopic in comparison to her father's mansion back in Deling.

"You're back," the woman noted. "How was it?"

"Hot, Rinoa honestly complained."

"Well, we do get a lot of sun here; perhaps you're not used to it."

"I've had worse. Galbadian summers are like this too. At least Balamb has a gentle breeze to it."

"This is only spring, dear."

"Is it?" Rinoa asked, internally checking the months of the year to find out the older woman was correct.

"Yes. I'm afraid summer is still a few months away."

"How much hotter do you think it's going to get?"

"I don't know. I'm in the kitchen a lot, which keeps me toasty all year round," Mrs Dincht replied with a laugh. "Although I'd say that this is one the hottest days we've had yet this year. Summer shouldn't be much hotter than this."

"Well, that's something, I suppose," Rinoa stated while tying her dog's lead to the kitchen table, offering Angelo a gentle pat on the head as a reward for being a good girl.

Walking over to the refrigerator, Rinoa opened, the door, basking in the cool air as it escaped into the room. Looking through the bottles within, Rinoa saw something sure to cool her down. A pitcher of what appeared to be some kind of fruit juice. "Um, do you mind?" the slacker asked, gesturing to the older woman.

"Help yourself dear," Mrs Dincht kindly answered. Rinoa smiled and gratefully poured herself a glass, after hunting through several cupboards for said aforementioned object.

"So what do you have planned for today?" Mrs Dincht asked, turning back to her cooking.

Rinoa allowed her cool, refreshing beverage to dance ceremoniously upon her tongue and down her parched throat before answering. "Nothing." Her response was as blunt as it was honest, not to mention lacklustre. It was to be another sad, boring week of solitude.

"In that case, how would you like to help me out today? Rinoa looked at the woman with a degree of uncertainty. Worry began to etch its way into her chocolate brown eyes. What did the woman want? Rinoa had only ever seen her do housework. Not exactly thrilling or exciting. Honestly. The woman kept such a tiny house. What was it that kept her so busy?

"What do you want me to do, exactly?"

"Well, one of my neighbours has a son that I look after in the afternoons. You can help me with that. If you don't mind, that is."

"How come you look after him?"

"Well, my neighbour is a single mother, and she has to work during the day, so her son comes here after school and I look after him until she picks him up."

"So how long is he here, exactly?"

"About three hours. I pick him up at his school and walk him back here, and his mother comes and picks him up at about six."

"Okay," Rinoa said, mentally noting the information she was being fed. "So what's he like?"

"Well, he's a lot like Zell was at that age… I suppose that's not much help, is it?"

"Not really."

"Let me see. He's very energetic, and some might say he's loud."

"Great, so he's hyperactive. This should be fun," Rinoa dryly commented. Apparently, Squall had begun to rub off on her.

"I don't know if I'd go that far," Mrs Dincht defended.

"Well, I don't know."

"Think about it this way. If you refuse, what will you do with your time?" The woman was right. Rinoa couldn't bring herself to argue with her. Any response she could make would sound cheap and false on her tongue. She had been complaining to herself of boredom, of having nothing to do all day. Now, here was a solution to that problem. Was she honestly going to throw that away?

To be honest, Rinoa had never particularly liked kids. Especially the loud, obnoxious ones. Okay, so sometimes they did something funny, but it wasn't like that happened to be a constant occurrence.

She had to weigh up her options. On one hand, she'd be bored stiff all day, just like she had been last week. On the other, she could find her hands full with noisy, energetic children. Neither case was a clear winner, but she wouldn't be alone with the child, would she?

"Where will you be?" Rinoa asked.

"Right here, of course. I wouldn't leave you alone with a neighbour's child. Not until I'd seen for myself that you could handle the responsibility and effort. So what do you say?" Rinoa still wasn't sure.

Then again, it wasn't as though this town had much in the way of excitement. Aside from socializing with Squall: who wasn't here, and sleeping: an escape she didn't have right now, there was nothing else to do. Nothing else with which to occupy herself. With a sigh, she gave in and took the best course of action.

She agreed.

The Slacker had become a babysitter.


	19. Chapter 19

**The Slacker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VIII

**The Rascal**

The girl sighed. What was she doing here? She didn't know how to take care of a child. She didn't even know where he was.

Seriously, where was that kid? Rinoa didn't even know what he looked like. Where was he? Who was he?

Exasperated, she sighed once again. What was she even doing here? It would have been better to simply remain at the Dincht's house and wait for him to come to her. Why on earth had she come all the way out here?

It had seemed like a good idea at the time, she assured herself. It had. As for now, however… What was she thinking?

Rinoa was by no stretch of the imagination a master of the Balambese streets. Surely, she was learning. She had managed to find her way so far. The local primary school was just up ahead.

She didn't own a watch, but she knew the time to be later than three in the afternoon. It had been five minutes to the hour when she'd left, and the distance travelled was ten minutes on foot.

People migrated in the distance, traveling in clusters. Small groups of random size, short bodies moving under the blue, cloudless sky.

They were coming toward the girl. As Rinoa walked one way, they went the other. She must have been getting closer.

The school was in sight. She stood at its entrance, looking in. As she watched, more and more masses of people continually came out, flooding the streets. Some met up with their parents to walk home. Some were picked up in cars. Others walked alone, or in groups with their friends. The only question was, out of these many children, which was the one Rinoa happened to be looking for? Perhaps she should head back.

Whoever this boy was, he'd naturally head toward Mrs Dincht's house, wouldn't he? It made sense. She might even meet him there.

As she pondered this, Rinoa was unprepared for the voice that greeted her.

"Hi!" it said.

Turning around, Rinoa met the eyes of a young boy. His face, it seemed so familiar. She knew this boy from somewhere.

Then it dawned on her.

"I remember you," she stated. "You're that boy from the other day. The one who almost caused a traffic accident." It all came flooding back to the raven haired girl. After the traffic scare with that truck, the pair had walked around the town. The boy had shown her around.

"You remembered," the boy stated, grinning mischievously from ear to ear.

"So um, could you help me with something?"

"What do you need?"

"Information," Rinoa spoke mystically.

"Okay."

"Do you know Mrs Dincht?"

"Yeah, that's Zell's Ma."

"Great, because she's supposed to be watching someone this afternoon. Do you know…" the girl trailed off. This was hopeless, wasn't it? What were the chances that this young boy knew anything? It was worth a shot, but Rinoa knew that the chance was slim. Slim to nothing. "I don't suppose you know who I'm looking for?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"So you're the one I'm here to see?"

"Did she send you?"

"Yeah. I'm helping her out today."

"Okay then, let's go." Rinoa nodded.

"That was easy," she noted, mentally thanking the world for making this such a simple matter as they headed off toward the Dincht household.

Upon arrival, Mrs Dincht had been there to greet them. She turned from her place at the stove in order to extend her gratitude to the young woman, before giving the girl her instructions.

"Alright, here's the way I usually do things. He has free time until three thirty. During this time, you will prepare him a snack."

"Uh, I can't really cook."

"It's just afternoon tea. Just cut up some fruit. It's what I usually give him. Apple slices, banana slices, that kind of thing. Just try to avoid giving him sugar."

"Um, in a bowl?"

"Exactly. Also, he is allowed to use the television during this time. What he does with this time is entirely up to him. He may watch shows, or play games. Whichever it is he prefers."

"So that leaves about fifteen minutes of TV time," Rinoa noted. "Then what?"

"Then, he will do his homework. You will supervise and assist if he needs it."

"Well, I don't know what help I'll be."

"Just do your best, dear."

"Okay, then what?"

"After that is done, he may do as he likes. He will have free time until his mother comes home to pick him up. But he is not to use the television during this time."

"So, he should play outside?"

"Please don't let him do that," the older woman replied. "Last time he ran out into the street."

"Ah, yeah," Rinoa coyly mumbled. "I remember. Okay! Got it." As she was about to leave, the older woman called her back.

"Oh, and Rinoa?"

"Yes?"

"You are much younger that I, so feel free to play with him."

"Um, okay. If he wants me to."

"This may just be a favour or job to you, but I'm sure that boy would rather have a friend than a babysitter." Rinoa nodded and made for the hallway beyond the kitchen.

Once she had made it past the archway, she found herself not in any kind of hallway, but instead, there was what appeared to be a living room.

The room was littered with old ornaments and stacks of magazines. Shelves were full, giving the room an old, cluttered look. Rinoa had expected the place to be filled with dust, but it was strangely clean. Spotless, even. Suddenly, Rinoa knew what it was that kept Mrs Dincht so busy.

On one side of the room was the television. An old model, but not quite as dated as the one located in Squall's residence. Also, she noted that this particular television set was connected to a digital cable decoder.

The other side of the room was mostly taken up by a large, pine dining table.

Turning her attention toward a rustling behind her, she noticed the young boy setting up a dated video game console. One that Rinoa happened to recognize. A reminiscent smirk came to grace her as nostalgia kicked in.

She took a seat on the small couch beside the young boy. As the game's opening logos rolled across the screen, she couldn't help but smile as she heard that oh-so familiar theme music.

"You're seriously playing this?" She asked.

"Of course, why?"

"Do you know how old this game is?"

"So? It's a classic."

"You're telling me," the girl replied. "I remember playing this in arcades when I was ten."

"Really?" the boy asked, sounding surprised. "_You _played games?"

"Yeah." Honestly, it was refreshing to see someone playing such an old game. Especially someone from a younger generation, for whom there had to have been attractive aspects other than nostalgia.

"Do you wanna play?" Rinoa's grin pulled upward.

"Sure," she replied. "Just don't complain when I mop the floor with you."

"I don't know," the boy proudly explained. "I'm pretty good."

"Well, I was pretty good at this when I was your age."

"That was a long time ago. Come on, grandma. Let's play."

"You're on," Rinoa replied with a smirk. She'd make him pay for that line. There was no way she was going easy on him now. She may have been a little rusty, but she was certain the skill was still there.

After several rounds of the arcade-style video game, Rinoa had accumulated a lead over her young opponent, having beaten him three games to two. He'd seemed so proud, lording it over hear as he pummelled her character into the simulated on-screen dust. Twice he'd beaten her. For two matches in a row, Rinoa had struggled to get the hang of the controls, to get the feel for this ancient gaming classic.

On the third match, her skills had returned. The following three matches were hers. Rinoa refused to relent. Especially after the young boy had taunted her. Once she got into the swing of things again, she found that her previous experience gave her a profound advantage over the young boy.

"Three in a row," Rinoa taunted. "Ready to eat your words yet?"

"Ah… that was nothing. I'm having a bad day. That's all!"

"Fine, I'll come back and beat you when you're at your best. How does that sound?"

"Shut up!" the boy retorted. "Thinking you're the best? You're not so great!"

"I don't think I'm the best. I'm not," Rinoa replied.

"You don't?"

"Nope. I'm not the best." The boy looked at her, examining her face. Suddenly, her lip curled upward. "But I'm better than you!"

"Say what!"

"You heard me."

"I beat you twice!"

"I beat you thrice… uh, I mean, three times."

"I beat you first!"

"Oh, gee, you beat me before I got the hang of it. You must be _so _good," Rinoa replied with sarcasm, extending the 'so' in her speech for emphasis."

"So, I'll bet you couldn't beat Zell."

"You think so?"

"You bet. He's the master at this game."

"I beat you didn't I?"

"I'm good, but I'm nothing compared to Zell."

"Is that right? Think I could beat him?"

"No chance," the rascal laughed.

"Wanna bet?"

"C'mon. I managed to beat you twice in a row."

"Like I said, I was still getting back into it. You wouldn't brag about beating a beginner who was still learning, would you?"

"Of course I would."

"So would I, come to think of it. So how good is he?"

"I haven't beaten him once."

"So if I can beat Zell…"

"You won't."

"But if I do? What then?"

"What do you mean?"

"If I challenge Zell and beat him, what will you do?"

As the door opened, Mrs Dincht moved aside to make way for her visitor. The woman with short brown hair stepped over the threshold and inside the house.

"So how are things?" the older woman asked her guest.

"Busy, I'm afraid."

"Oh?"

"I've been on my feet all day. I haven't even eaten lunch."

"Oh, that's too bad. You must have something here."

"No, I can't."

"I insist. At least let me make you some tea."

"No time," the younger woman insisted, shaking her head.

"You should make time to relax."

"As you and I both know, that kind of time is hard to come by," the younger woman smiled.

"I suppose you're right, but do try to make the time to slow down. You can't keep going like this forever you know." Her guest nodded.

"Thank you. So, where is he?"

"In there, with Rinoa," she replied, gesturing with her arm to the living room.

"Rinoa?"

"Yes, she's a friend of Zell's. She just moved in next door. Since she isn't really doing anything with her time, I said she could help me out today. You wouldn't happen to need an assistant, would you?"

"I don't know, could you recommend her?"

"From what I've seen today, she's inexperienced, and unused to doing a lot of work."

"I see."

"She follows instructions though. And she'll try her best to do anything you tell her."

"All the same… she sounds like a liability."

"That's too bad. I put her in charge of your boy."

"How was she?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't heard anything from them."

"That doesn't sound like my son," the younger woman replied, thinking about the boy's usual shenanigans. She entered the living room, to be greeted by an unexpected sight. Her son sat upon the sofa, his attention turned toward the older girl who sat with him, her arm extended along the back of the sofa. They appeared to be talking quietly. That was a change for a start.

Upon sight of her, the teenage girl pointed her out to the boy.

"Hey," the woman said in greeting to her son. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah!" he said as he ran to collect his things.

"Don't worry," the girl said, noting the boy's reaction, "I won't take it personally."

"Thank you," the woman said as she approached and joined the girl on the sofa.

"For what?"

"For… entertaining my son."

"Oh right. Don't mention it."

"So, what did you get up to?"

"Not much. We played an old game, he did his homework, and then we basically sat here the whole time."

"What's your name?"

"Rinoa."

"He seems to like you," the woman replied.

"You think so?"

"I do. I've never seen him so relaxed around anyone before. He'd usually be running around like a hooligan."

"Yeah, that's what Mrs Dincht said."

"This has never happened before, not with anyone… except Zell, maybe. He doesn't make friends easily. It's just a shame you won't be sticking around."

"I don't understand."

"He likes you. It's obvious. It just seems like such a waste now, to throw this budding friendship away. So, would you like to do this again sometime?"

Had the woman rehearsed this conversation? This was a proposal, right? "Maybe… he passes the time better than burnt toast and soap operas."

The brunette decided not to ask, and simply continued with what she had been about to say. "I may be looking for a babysitter. Are you interested?"

"I'm not sure," Rinoa honestly replied. She'd never been offered anything like this before. "Maybe," she answered.

"I'd pay you."

"How much?"

"I don't know… how about one hundred Gil per day."

"Okay. How often would this be?"

"How about every day? Well, weekdays. I know that his being here is a strain. How about you pick him up from school and walk him home with you, then I pick him up there in the evenings? You just live next door, right?" Rinoa nodded her head.

"Okay, I can do that."

"Oh, and I'd appreciate it if you could take him on Saturdays. For say… and extra five hundred gil? That would make it one thousand every week."

"Well…" This was starting to sound like a lot of work. Sure, she could use the money, but she'd be sacrificing a lot of her time. Rinoa was beginning to understand how Squall felt. Then again, it wasn't as though she truly had much to do. "I guess so, but I can't take him on Sundays." Rinoa was adamant about that.

"That's fine. Would you be willing to work evenings as well?"

"I'm not sure." Evenings would seriously cut into Rinoa's Squall time.

"I'd pay you more."

"How much?"

"How late would you be willing to work?"

"Any time, I guess. If I agree, that is."

"How about one thousand Gil for the night, Five hundred if I keep you after midnight, and two hundred for every hour after that?" Rinoa's eyes widened.

"Um, this wouldn't be for every evening, would it?"

"No, this would be once in a blue moon. So, what do you say?"

"Um, okay. Yes."

"Great, let me have your number."


	20. Chapter 20

**The Slacker**

**Author's Notes:**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VIII

**The Evening**

Stepping out into the late afternoon sun, Rinoa couldn't help but feel good about the arrangement she had just made. The pride dripped off her in buckets. It went without saying that she was pleased at herself for what she'd done. For what she'd accomplished.

No longer could people refer to Rinoa as that lazy slacker who lay around the house doing nothing all day. Sure, maybe she didn't have a regular job, per se, but she was doing something, wasn't she? Helping out Zell's mother, paying her back for looking after Angelo. She was even being paid for it.

It was a miniscule fee she was accepting, but money was money, after all. Was it not?

What would he think of her? Would Squall be proud of her? Despite her easy-going attitude, she didn't like being a burden on the brunet. He would never accuse her of such, but it was obvious. She saw it in his laboured breathing, and in Quistis' exasperated eyes. Squall was exhausted, and Rinoa being here was not helping. She knew what she had to do, but she didn't have a method. She didn't know how.

How was she to go about it? Any course of action would need to be thought through. To rush things would be foolhardy. And to clue the others in would be unproductive. Whatever she did, whatever course of action she undertook, she would need to keep hidden. She didn't need her failure weighing her down in their eyes. She didn't need to become a disappointment.

How would that man feel about this? Rinoa wondered what he would think of her doing this, becoming a babysitter. Would he approve? Would he even care? It didn't really matter either way.

Rinoa knew what her father thought of her. He'd made it perfectly clear that his opinion of her couldn't be any lower, and yet he continued to be dissatisfied with her every effort. Why? It made little sense to her. If Squall were to feel the same way toward her… if Squall were to ever reflect her father's feelings of her, if he were to give up on her…

"No!" the girl assured herself. Her voice was firm and determined. The tone matched her eyes. That would never happen. She would not allow it. Such an awful truth would never come to pass. Rinoa would make sure of it.

Shaking the thoughts from her head, Rinoa decided to focus on something a little different. Her lips turned up in a smile as she approached the door.

Quickly, she crossed the short distance between the two joined buildings and entered the place of her residence. Those other two would probably be home by now. Perhaps wondering where she was.

What would they think? Where did they think she was? Which scenario would pass through their mind? And would they even care? Perhaps they were simply too busy to expend thought on her. She knew Squall was. It was obvious to everyone. Even her. Even Rinoa could tell, not that she was the selfish, bloated, narcissist that some had made her out to be.

On her way home, Rinoa walked past Quistis, who was on her way out, having just stepped outside the house.

"Going somewhere?" Rinoa greeted.

"I have some errands to run in town. I'll be back in an hour or so."

"Okay, is Squall inside?"

"Yeah. For the moment, at least."

"For the moment?"

"Yes, he has to go to work soon. If you want to talk with him, I'd hurry. He was looking for you."

"Squall… was looking for me?"

"That's what I said," the blonde sighed impatiently.

"Why? What did he want?"

"I couldn't tell you. Perhaps you should ask him."

"Uh, yeah. Thanks," Rinoa replied, walking past the blonde and stepping through the doorway into the eggshell coloured house.

Once inside, the girl found Squall on the couch. He turned his head as he heard her enter. He watched as she approached. He watched her as she walked closer and sat down beside him.

"Hey," she casually greeted.

"Uh, hi," Squall replied.

Rinoa turned her attention to the television. What was Squall watching? Nothing of interest, the girl noted.

"Where were you?" Squall asked, seemingly out of the blue.

"Huh?" Rinoa asked, rather ineloquently.

"I was looking for you."

"Oh, yeah. Quistis mentioned something like that." Squall narrowed his eyes. She was being awfully aloof.

"Is something wrong?" Rinoa looked at the brunet.

"No…"

"So, where were you?"

"I was… next door."

"Doing what?"

"Uh, just helping out."

"Helping with what?"

"You know, just helping Zell's mother out. Lending a hand. She's pretty busy you know. I feel like I owe her, you know, because of her looking after Angelo and all."

"So what were you doing?"

"Just this and that. Not much of anything, really. I was just trying to lighten her load a bit. That's all." Squall let loose a sigh. "What?"

"Fine, if you don't want to talk about this, we'll change the subject."

"What do you mean?"

"You're being evasive, Rinoa. It's so obvious, even I can tell."

"Wow, it must be obvious then," Rinoa remarked.

Squall flung his arm out at the girl, striking her lightly across the face with the back of his hand. Rinoa allowed the barely existent force to propel her, causing her to fall back and roll onto the floor, overacting like a child given the lead role at their school play. She stared back at her boyfriend with indignant eyes.

Squall, simply sat back and raised an eyebrow at her. At this gross lack of response, Rinoa had no other choice. She voiced her disapproval of him.

"Hey, no hitting," the girl protested.

"Don't be such a ham."

"You'd better be careful or I'll report you to Mister Kramer. He doesn't take kindly to domestic violence." Squall couldn't help the smirk that spread across his face. He grinned, his lips slowly parted like a fissure opening up in the ground during a massive earthquake.

"Okay, I give, what do I have to do?"

"Huh?" Rinoa's eyes took on a blank glaze.

"You're blackmail worked, Rinoa. What do you want me to do? I mean we don't want it getting out how abusive I am, right?" Rinoa smirked, catching on.

"So… I can say anything? And you have to do it?" Squall couldn't help but feel nervous. He had a bad feeling about that twisted grin adorning his girlfriend's face. They were only playing around, but… perhaps he shouldn't have let things go down this road.

"Uh, Rinoa? What are you thinking?"

"Anything?" The way she repeated that word. Squall didn't know what he was in for, but he was certain he wouldn't like it. "You mean _anything, _right?"

"Could you stop repeating that word?"

"Why, is it making you uncomfortable?"

"Uh, kind of…" Rinoa's smirk deepened and she sat up on her knees, leaning forward toward the brunette. Grasping his shoulders, she pulled him to the ground. Not having been prepared, Squall lost balance and landed on top of the raven haired girl. "What are you – "the brunet asked, but soon found himself cut off. Rinoa pressed her lips to his.

She pulled away, and Squall sent her a quizzical look. "No talking," she ordered, her voice soft.

* * *

Quistis Walked the last few steps in the cool evening air, moving toward the building, small, white paper bags bundled within her arms. Slowing to a halt outside the white door, she stopped. Reaching for the door handle could be potentially disastrous. What should she do?

If she opened the door herself, she risked dropping everything in the paper bags. She'd have to knock… but then she'd run into a similar problem. _I go out on a limb to do a favour for everyone and this is the trouble I run into…."_

Quistis supposed she could try knocking with her feet, but was that really the best solution? What if Kramer found out? What if he saw her kicking down his door? They'd surely be evicted, or at the very least have their rent raised. That man loved raising the rent. Well, it went hand in hand with his love of money, the greedy old man.

There was nothing for it. She'd have to put everything down carefully on the floor so she could open the door. It was a pain, but what choice did she have? As she began to kneel down, bringing her body toward the hard, cold, cementitious doorstep. As she did so, the blonde couldn't help the creeping thought from bubbling to the surface of her head.

_Why didn't I invite Zell along?_

Just then, the door opened and she was greeted by Squall. The blonde thankfully rose to full height.

"I've brought us all some food," she told the brunet.

"Sorry, I need to get going," Squall spoke.

"Then at least take your order. Here, I'll get it out for you." Squall shook his head.

"I haven't got time."

"You don't want to go out hungry… or have you already eaten?"

"I'll grab something on the way to work… I have to go."

Squall hurried past the blonde, leaving the door open for her.

Quistis couldn't help but feel that the young man was acting somewhat strangely. Of course he'd always been acting a little queer since Rinoa had arrived, but he was acting even stranger than usual today. The blonde ignored the thought, pressing it to the back of her head with her other Squall-related worries and called out to anyone else present within the building.

"Rinoa, are you here?"

"Yes," came the soft reply.

"Could you give me some help?" After a while, Quistis grew tired of waiting and pressed forward, entering the building, her hands completely full. Their paths crossed in the hallway.

"Have you eaten," the blonde asked.

"Not yet." Rinoa's emotionless reply.

"Good. I brought us something. Get the door for me." Rinoa did as she was bid, and followed Quistis to the table.

"Squall said he'd get something himself," the raven haired girl informed her drained roommate.

"Yeah, I heard," Quistis replied. "We'll keep what's left over for tomorrow. After that… I'll leave it to you. Give it to Squall, eat it yourself, throw it out, feed it to your dog… I don't really care."

"My dog doesn't eat human food," Rinoa stated in a matter-of-fact way. "What'd you get us, anyway?"

"It's a new kind of wrap… you like chicken, don't you?"

"Of course, it's my favourite meat."

"Okay, I'm just glad you're not a vegetarian," Quistis shrugged, handing one of the small packages to the raven haired girl.

Unwrapping it, Rinoa smiled and took a bite. "They have these in Timber!" she happily exclaimed. "I remember Squall and I had them once. No place would sell them in the city so we had to catch two trains and a bus to get there. It took us over an hour."

"That's a bit out of your way for lunch, isn't it? Why didn't you just get a couple of cheese burgers?" Rinoa's eyes narrowed.

"I dunno. Guess we must've used up all our Chocobo Burger coupons," the raven haired girl dryly retorted. "Geez Quisty, haven't you ever heard that it's about the journey, not the destination?"

"Yes, I've heard that from people at Garden."

"See?" Rinoa boasted. "You should listen to them," she advised, taking an excessively large bite, her face showing what appeared to be utter delight. The food seemed to put her in a good mood.

"Yeah," Quistis continued. "All the guys who fail their midterms say it. All the time, in fact." Rinoa's expression soured. "No food for you," she countered, snatching the package from Quistis' hands and running off.

"Fine," the blonde replied to the empty room, pulling a more traditional filled roll from the third paper bag on the table." I'm in the mood for ham, anyway."


End file.
